Destiny's Call (JC 4)
by Jedi Carpet
Summary: An error in Force use leaves Jacen stranded without friends, family, or hope of return to his home. Takes place after Dawn of Chaos.
1. Destiny's Call

AN: Here's the continuation of "From The Ashes." Not so much a continuation of the trilogy as the first part in the timeline after Dawn of Chaos. This isn't a long tale, so the chapters aren't very long. If you think that they're too short of chapters, let me know and I'll revisit the break points...but I think the breaks are very natural. Also, don't pay too much attention to the chapter titles. They're not meant to be taken as "in universe" chapter names...but if you think about them as you go through the chapter you might get another chuckle or thought about things here or there. Also, this is a Jacen-only story in terms of characters you might know aside from the ones I've written about before. Please enjoy and review often :)

As always, I claim no ownership of anything Star Wars related, but there are several aspects of my own creation (ie, Encari, Eriana, Black Vornskrs,...)

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><p>Destiny's Call<p>

The universe constantly swirls in a nexus of song and dance, following the rhythm and beat of time and energy. Utterly complex beyond any single being's perception, the universe nonetheless continues on with its never-ending tune of existence, carrying those swept along its currents and defying anyone who dared to understand it.

But the universe's indifference did not stop Jacen Solo from trying.

Lost in meditation on the balcony of the royal bedroom on Hapes, the young Jedi Master took in as much of the universe as he could. He sensed his wife, sleeping on the bed behind him. Their unborn child, resting as well. His sister, half the galaxy away, on some mission for the Jedi Order. His parents, helping Lando with some new scheme. Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara, sparring at the hidden Jedi Temple. Eriana flying a ship somewhere, still missing Jacen's company. Zonoma Sekot, doing virtually the same thing as himself, only with a greater understanding beneath it.

He could even sense Soora Bulq on Coruscant, plotting away to track down and destroy the Jedi – namely Jacen himself – and seize power over the whole galaxy.

Beyond single people, Jacen could sense so much more. Planets, as they travelled along their endless ellipses around their sun. Solar systems crawling slowly around the galactic core. The entire galaxy itself, moving within the universe and expanding its presence at a rate slower than the creep of a glacier. Everything in constant motion and completely oblivious to the finest details of movement around them.

As often as Jacen had reached into the universe, he always discovered something new to explore. As he peered into the crystalline facets of Existence, time itself found its way into Jacen's perception. Past and present events scrolling by like a holovid.

Images of the past appeared: the trials of an exiled Jedi Knight from millennia past; Darth Bane seeking more knowledge under the nose of the Jedi; the birth of Yoda; a battle among fire between Master and Apprentice; a desperate attack on the Death Star at Yavin; and the death of the last Sith Lord.

Images of his own past appeared: himself chasing crystal snakes long ago on Yavin 4 and being laughed at by his siblings; being tossed in the air as a child by Chewbacca; lightsaber training with Tenel Ka; his imprisonment with Vergere; and many more images.

The present appeared in much more detail, showing him images of his loved ones all at once, allowing him to focus on the tiniest of details around them, from his dad's lopsided smirk as he told a joke, to the gentle heartbeat of his unborn child.

The future appeared, too. Not many futures, as Jacen had learned to expect, but a single one. While the past brought him happiness, the future brought him concern and confusion. He saw his sister, alone, crying at Tahiri's funeral.

_What's going on? Tahiri died a year ago_.

The Jedi Temple, hiding in a place he did not recognize, appeared being bombarded by ships from above. His aunt and uncle appeared defeated, their bodies fading into the Force after a great battle.

_He shouldn't know how to do that!_

It was a torn and battered history of the Jedi's future threatening to end all that Jacen knew.

Seeking solace to abate his confusion, he pushed the Force ever-so-slightly, pushing past this future to a time farther away, looking for a time of peace. When he found it, it was not the peace he was looking for. While war and strife had ended, the Sith Lords ruled the galaxy, suppressing populations into obedience while hunting the Jedi to extinction.

_I wish I could figure out what went wrong,_ Jacen thought sadly.

As soon as he made the conscious wish he knew he had made a mistake. His grasp of this newly-discovered facet of time waned, and he lost hold of it, tumbling back to reality. This loss of control did not bother him, but merely proved to him how far from true mastery over the Force he knew he was. He considered himself lucky that he was able to revisit the newly discovered facets of the Force after finding them and considered himself luckier still that every time he visited them he gained more control over them. But for tonight, he would let that one rest. Discovering new areas of the Force was not exactly revitalizing.

Reality slowly returned to Jacen, fading in as he retuned his mind to use the senses of his body instead of sensing through the Force. As his hearing returned to him, a distant, mechanical whine and erythematic thumping noise that caught him off guard.

_There's nothing like that on Hapes, _Jacen thought. _It almost sounds like a..._

"Sithspit!" Jacen shouted, rolling backward and jumping away as the giant mechanical foot of an AT-AT threatened to crush him from above. He instinctively jumped off the ground upon landing, and leapt towards the massive mechanical foot that nearly killed him, landing on the foot pad and grabbing onto the ankle of the leg.

"Where did you come from?" Jacen demanded of the clunking mechanical beast, finally being able to take a look around and calm his heart from beating its way out of his chest. Wherever he was, he was no longer on Hapes – at least not the Hapes he knew. As the mechanical foot rose to take another step, Jacen's heart sank as his eyes absorbed the landscape – the shoreline that was once lined with beautiful skyscrapers was a tattered mess of destroyed buildings. Fountain Palace was in ruins around him, and he appeared to be on the middle of seven of the great mechanical monsters as they lumbered forward through the rubble – but they were different from what Jacen remembered. The hulls looked thicker, there were laser canons lining the sides of the body, and the head looked able to extend and articulate backward.

_Whatever is going on here, _Jacen thought, extracting his lightsaber from his belt. _I don't like it._

He spotted an entry hatch in the middle of the boxy body and reached out with the Force. He leapt toward it with the speed of a blaster bolt, ripping it open as he approached. Inside, he soared past armoured troopers to the back end of the bay, met the wall with his feet, and kicked gently and spun in mid-air so he landed with his back to the wall, lightsaber ignited defensively.

"Jedi!" Several armoured troopers shouted, scrambling for their blasters. "Kill the Jedi!"

_So much for diplomacy._

Jacen quickly started hacking and slashing at the troopers, using Vaapad to mow through the helpless warriors with lethal efficiency. A minute later, the troops were all dead, and the hatch to the command section opened to reveal a cloaked figure.

"A Jedi?" The figure asked with a wicked grin that was barely visible beneath the hood. "Our intel was right. I'm going to enjoy killing the last of your kind."

"There are Jedi on Hapes?" Jacen asked. To his knowledge, Tenel Ka was the only other one, and he did not want to give her presence away. "Aside from me, that is."

"Your feigned ignorance will not protect them," the cloaked grin said. "After I kill you, the others will be slaughtered like nerfs."

A red lightsaber ignited in the man's left hand while the right swept the cloak away.

"Corran?" Jacen demanded. "What the hell are you doing?"

The Sith hesitated.

"Corran was my grandfather's name," he said. "Why do you call me by his name?"

"Your _grandfather_?" Jacen no longer had time to think about it as he deflected two quick slashes and had to jump backward. "Who are you?"

"Enough talking!" the Horn Sith shouted.

He charged toward Jacen and swung high, but spun in mid-swing to reverse his direction and slash low at Jacen's ankle, and followed up with several well-aimed attacks. Jacen easily deflected the blows, standing his ground with a steadfast Soresu defence that would have made Obi-Wan proud. This Horn was well-trained and _fast_...but Jacen was faster. The second he sensed an opening, he launched a telekinetic shockwave coupled with an emerald lightning strike that took the other man off his feet and slammed him against the cockpit wall, knocking him out cold.

_One of Corran's grandchildren is a Sith Lord? What is going on here?_

Jacen deactivated his lightsaber and strolled into the cockpit, stopping only long enough to take the lightsaber from Sith Horn. Upon quick examination, he recognized Horn styling, right down to the adjustable blade length.

"Status?" Jacen asked the pilots of the armoured transport. He clapped a fistful of emerald lightning on the shoulder of both pilots and they both fell into unconsciousness. He removed the left pilot from the seat and sat in the command chair, donning the headset from the commander. He quickly scrolled through various displays, finding one marked "Mission Objectives."

M7-AT-AT 7521 Lambda

Intelligence has indicated a returned Jedi presence on the planet of Hapes among the ruins of the Fountain Palace. Proceed to these coordinates and exterminate any Jedi remnants.

The date on the orders indicated a time nearly a hundred years in the future from the date Jacen remembered.

_A hundred years?_ Jacen thought. _I wonder if I'm still alive._

He shook his head and chided himself for such thoughts at such a time.

_Focus, Solo,_ Jacen thought. _These guys are hunting Jedi. You need to stop them._

Jacen grabbed the weapons controls and throttled back the speed. Immediately he felt a lurch of deceleration, and a moment later a voice rang in his ear.

"Seven-five-two-one, why are you slowing down," The voice demanded.

Jacen pressed the red PTT button on the control stick.

"Slight change in plans," Jacen said, thinking quickly. "Our master wants us to hang back and create a perimeter in case the Jedi prove more difficult to contain than expected. You can continue on as planned."

_If that works, I'm going to be the luckiest..._

"Negative, two-one," The voice came back. "Proceed as planned."

"Uhh...we have a reactor leak here," Jacen said, thinking even quicker than before. "Very bad, very big leak. Give us a minute to lock things down here. How are you?"

Jacen cringed with his last words, realizing he just blew his infiltration.

"Who is this? What is your command number?"

"Boring conversation anyway." Jacen tossed the headset aside and swung the head of the AT-AT toward the nearest enemy on the right. He squeezed the trigger and launched a flurry of blaster bolts and missiles that created a massive explosion within the transport. He swung to the left side and fired at the second one as his transport already started taking fire from the side cannons. Thankfully, they appeared to be much weaker than his main cannons that blew the entire transport on the left to shrapnel.

"If you're looking for Jedi," Jacen said to nobody in particular. "I'll give you one."

He reached out with the Force and used it to embrace the smouldering hull of the transport to his right. He drew upon his fury at the destruction of his new home planet and used it to launch the remains of the transport toward the one beside it. He did not wait to watch as the two remaining AT-ATs fell like dominoes. Instead, he repeated the attack to his left. Five minutes later, he took another deep breath and finally found the strength to stand up after the slaughter he just committed. If there were Jedi on his mangled version of Hapes, he wanted to find them before anyone else did...if only to reassure himself that this butchery was for something.


	2. Shattered Reality

AN: Thanks for all the comments and adds. They really made my day. This is a Jacen-exclusive story in terms of any "majors" we know. Note the description only has him listed. My next one will be more expansive than this one...which isn't hard when you consider how very narrow a scope this one has. I wrote this over a weekend just after I finished part 3 and spent a few months refining it. I've rarely been able to write that quickly...

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><p>Shattered Reality<p>

Glass shards crunched under Jacen's boots as he walked through the ruins of what had been his home a hundred years before. Or ten minutes ago, by his chrono. Tenel Ka's throne, burned to charred lumps of wood and melted metal, sat on the half-destroyed three-tier dais. Chunks of the ceiling and walls rested on the ground, broken and battered as much as anything else Jacen could see. Not a single wall from the beautiful palace stood, not a single work of art that once lined the walls gone undamaged or left unpillaged.

_Another home destroyed_, Jacen thought sadly as he stared blankly at the destroyed dais. _First Anoat, then Yavin 4 and Coruscant. Now Hapes._

A crunching sound and a bit of movement caught Jacen's attention. The top tier of the dais started to move slightly, and Jacen pulled his lightsaber from his belt, but did not activate it. The entire tier swung away to reveal a hole, and a human head appeared.

"Hello!" Jacen called, approaching the person cautiously. "Who are you?"

The person launched himself out of the hole and landed several metres in front of Jacen with a green lightsaber ignited, promptly answering the question. The man was slightly younger and shorter than Jacen, and had bright red hair cropped short. His brown eyes glowed with the reflection of the green blade, reminding Jacen a bit of a reflection of himself.

"A Jedi?" Jacen asked.

"They only sent one Sith this time?" The Jedi asked with a grin. "I must not be doing my job right."

"I'm not a Sith," Jacen said. Sensing the man would not attack if he was not threatened, Jacen put his lightsaber back on his belt and took a step forward. "Who are you?"

Confused by Jacen's actions, the Jedi stepped back as Jacen stepped forward, maintaining a defensive distance.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Jacen said, spreading his arms from his sides. He reached out with his empathic ability to read the Jedi's state of mind. There was obvious confusion, caution, and fierce loyalty. He was trying to protect someone. Or several people. "Or your friends. I know you're trying to buy time for them to escape, but you have nothing to fear from me."

"Who are you?" The Jedi asked warily.

"I'm Jedi Master Ja..."

"There are no Jedi Masters," The Jedi spat, cutting Jacen off. "They were all killed over fifty years ago. Everyone knows that."

"Look, if there are AT-AT's on the ground, that means that there is a fleet in orbit or a base nearby," Jacen said. "Either way, someone is going to come looking for their troopers, and when they find seven transports destroyed, they're going to be shooting first and asking questions later. I don't think either of us wants to be there when that happens. Do you have a ship?"

The Jedi hesitated, but Jacen could sense his concern wavering.

"I'm alone here," Jacen said, taking a tentative step forward. This time, the other Jedi did not step back. "And you are, too. I know you're scared. We both are. I think we both know that we're not a threat to each other. If you're a Jedi, listen to the Force. What does it tell you?"

After a moment, the Jedi's eyes fluttered as he consulted the Force, and he deactivated his lightsaber. Apparently the Force had decided Jacen was trustworthy. Or at least not a standing threat.

"I have three others with me," He said, gesturing Jacen to the hole in dais. "My sister is ill, and my wife and child are trying to escape with our ship. We found a buried hanger under the palace and underground hallways that connected it to the surface. You go first. I'll direct you, but stay where I can see you."

Jacen dropped down the hole and the other man fell beside him. Jacen used the Force to re-position the dais and set off toward the hanger bay. He created a ball of light, an old trick he once used by hyper accelerating air molecules, and had it lead the way as they ran along the corridor.

"How long have you been here?" Jacen asked as they ran.

"About a month," came the reply. "We can't stay in any one place for very long. We've been lucky here."

"I think your luck is about run out," Jacen said as they made a turn in opposite directions. "Hey, wait. The hanger bay is that way."

"That way is caved in. We have to go around."

They set off again, and several minutes later they were at the hanger bay. It was a low, dimly-lit cavern with one surprisingly familiar ship in the middle and several scattered parts of other ships around the sides.

"She's not much, but she's been in our family for generations," the Jedi said. "We call her _Rising Star_."

"Looks like a ship I once owned," Jacen said as the other man punched in the access code into the panel beside the loading ramp. _A little _too_ much like a ship I owned._

The ramp descended, and the two men boarded.

"Why aren't we up yet?" The man shouted, heading toward the cockpit.

"Engines aren't kicking over and that stupid droid keeps wanting to blast meatbags!" A female voice shouted back from the back of the ship. "Where are the AT-ATs?"

"Down," he called back. "We have a guest – he calls himself a Jedi Master."

Jacen grabbed the man's shoulder just outside the cockpit. "I've had some experience with this kind of ship. I can help her. You get the pre-flight done and I'll get the engines going."

"Pre-flight?" The man asked. "We haven't done one of those in _years_."

"Why do you think the engines are messed up?" Jacen demanded. "You have to treat this ship like a lady, not a garbage scow!"

Jacen hurried toward the back of the ship before the other man could make a response. The once-polished panels along the corridors were either scuffed or missing, exposing wires and circuits. The floor panels were similarly scuffed and scratched, and most of the lights running along the floor were no longer operational. It saddened Jacen to see his old ship in such disarray, but part of him was glad it had lasted this long and served...could this be his family?

"We're getting reports from the sonic sensors on the surface," the man's voice called out through the intercom. "Troopers are approaching."

Jacen arrived at his destination and found an attractive grease-covered young girl with multicoloured hair frantically trying to rewire half of the electrical system using scraps of wire across several circuit boards.

"When was the last time that system was replaced?" Jacen demanded, appalled by the state of his ship.

"What?" She asked. "Never. They're the originals."

"Out," Jacen demanded, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.

"Wha-Hey, let go of me! Who are you?" She screamed after he had already released her.

Jacen ignored her and swept the tools that had cluttered the floor aside with his foot. He reached out with his mind and flicked two latches that popped a hidden panel up about three centimetres.

"What is that?" She asked in awe as Jacen yanked out three circuit boards and handed them to her.

"Replacements," Jacen said, resealing the hatch. "Eriana keeps them in the hidden compartments around the ship. Almost all of the major components had at least two replacements - such as the engine control systems."

He flicked a power breaker with the Force, shutting down the power running through the mess of wiring before him. He yanked the three boards and excess wiring out and tossed them aside, then gently took the replacements back from the girl and slotted them into the appropriate places. He replaced the cover and flipped the breaker again.

"Try that!" Jacen shouted.

A moment later the engines roared to life, followed by a whoop of delight from forward in the ship. With nothing of immediate importance left to repair, Jacen and the young woman went toward the front of the ship. She stopped at the gunner turret while Jacen continued to the cockpit. Inside he found the Jedi doing the final prep before take-off while his daughter sat strapped into the co-pilot's chair making childish engine and blaster noises.

"How good of a pilot are you?" Jacen asked the other Jedi while taking the navigator seat.

"Good enough to evade these idiots," he replied.

He took the ship up on the repulsers and slammed the throttle forward, barely squeezing it through the gaping hole at the end of the hanger bay with centimetres to spare.

_This guy would give Jaina a run for her credits_, Jacen thought as he clung to the seat while the ship flew through a climbing corkscrew.

The _Rising Star_ tore through the atmosphere past the ground troops that were approaching the hidden hanger and blasted cloud apart, scattering the water molecules in its wake. It broke through the atmosphere to be welcomed by two giant triangular ships about twenty kilometres away on either side.

"Two squads of fighters inbound and closing," Jacen warned. "One from each ship. Want me in a turret?"

"Nah, we'll split down the middle until we're clear of the gravity well," he responded, pushing the throttle against the wall. "If the ship makes it, that is."

"Where are we going?" Jacen asked.

"No idea. I was going to blind jump."

"Frak that," Jacen said, hitting the navicomputer power button. When it did not turn on, he slapped the side of it and it flickered to life.

"Watch your language! There's a kid here."

"Hi," The little girl said brightly and waved.

"Hi," Jacen said with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay," The charming little girl replied. "Daddy says much worse."

Jacen laughed and called up some encrypted files in the navicomputer. A moment later he had a solution.

"I'm transferring the coordinates to the HUD," Jacen said. "Get to the nav point and we'll be free of the gravity well for the jump."

"Where are you sending us?"

"The Karlax asteroid belt," Jacen replied. "There was an old base there we can stop at, assuming it is still there."

"Is it safe?"

"Last time I was there it was," Jacen said, not entirely lying. It _was_ a safe haven a hundred years ago.

"Fighters are almost in weapons range," The Jedi said. "Angle the deflectors. We're two minutes from hyperspace."

Jacen called up the defensive system control screen and reset the shield distribution. On a second thought, he started running some calculations.

"If I dump weapon power into the engines we can shave over half a minute from the travel time," Jacen said.

"This ship is old! The shields will never hold that long against military weapons."

"Use the cloaking field," Jacen suggested.

"It was des...how did you know this ship had a cloak?"

An explosion of blaster bolts rocked the ship.

"Later," Jacen said. "I can use the Force. I'll distract the pilots, or rip their ships apart."

"That's impossible! Keep those weapons powered up!"

"Transferring weapons to engines," Jacen said, and then closed his eyes.

"The blasters aren't working!" A female voice came across the comm. "Shadow, get me some power down here! Woah! Two fighters just fell apart!"

"How are you doing that?" The Jedi asked fearfully as a third dismantled fighter tumbled past the forward viewscreen, but Jacen ignored him.

"Four down! Five! They're coming apart at the seams!"

The other Jedi was so distracted by Jacen's use of the Force that he almost forgot to activate the hyperdrive. The stars stretched and the ship catapulted into the mottled blue and black tunnel of safety.

Jacen took a deep breath and stood up just as the young woman entered the cockpit with a battered red astromech behind her.

"Who _are_ you?" She asked in awe.

"Enthusiastic greeting: Master Solo!" The droid exclaimed. "Thank the maker you have returned!"

"Womprat," Jacen said with a warm smile. "I'm glad to see you're still here, too."

"Solo?" The Jedi asked.

"Jacen Solo." He offered his hand, which was tentatively shaken. "I'm sorry, but I never caught your name."

"I...I'm Han Solo," the younger Jedi replied. "Are we related?"

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><p>Don't forget to review. It only takes a second :)<p> 


	3. Twisted Future

Twisted Future

"Confirmation: Master Han is the great-grandson of Master Solo," Womprat piped up.

"That's how you knew about the hidden spare parts!" Han's wife spoke up.

"Excited statement: This is exciting! My circuits are overheating with satisfaction! I always knew Master Solo was not a deserting coward."

"Deserting coward?" Jacen laughed incredulously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Historical Dictation:" Womprat started in perhaps the most enthusiastic voice Jacen had ever heard the droid use, short of that time when he shot a sprinting Mandalorian three kilometres away in the back of the knee using his favourite blaster targeting optics. "Approximately one hundred three years, twenty days, fifteen hours and seventeen minutes ago, using standard Coruscanti time units, you were discovered to be missing. Mistress Tenel Ka and Meatbag Jaina searched for you for years, but you were never to be found. Many suspected that you were captured and killed by a Sith Lord in the night, and others suspected you had gone to find another group of Force users, but I alone knew you had not."

"Because I left you and the ship behind?" Jacen predicted.

"Confirmation: Ex-actly, master," Womprat said, seemingly too excited about the return of his master to care that he was interrupted.

"Continued dictation: After your disappearance, the Sith became bolder. Twenty years later, they made public attacks on the Jedi and discovered the location of the Jedi Temple. Ma-a-any Jedi meatbags fell during the attack. Every location that had known Jedi was attacked. Whole cities of meatbags were wiped out if even a single Jedi was suspected to be hiding there. Meatbag Jaina was eliminated in the futile attempt to protect the Mon Calamari. Both she and the planet did not survive. Queen Tenel Ka was on Hapes, refusing to leave with half-Master Eriana when she came and took your child and this ship. Three other Jedi were found before Eriana left to search for other Jedi survivors. Since that day, the Solo descendants have been my masters as they transported cargo across the galaxy."

"So Eriana survived and went to find others?" Jacen asked.

"Yes," Han interrupted with a tone that made Jacen believe that Han was not overly happy about that fact. "She left us and our entire family has been on the run since then. We've survived as smugglers and shippers, hiding our Jedi heritage."

"What were you doing on Hapes?" Jacen asked.

"Our ship needed repairs," The multicolour-haired girl said. "We needed a safe place, and Womprat knew about the hanger. Hapes has a lot of small-time ship parts dealers and seedy back alleys. It's a good place to go to get lost."

"What about Tattooine?" Jacen asked. "That's as good a place to go as any."

"Tattooine?" Han asked. "That place is a Sith training camp. About fifty years ago they took over and turned it into a military world for the non-Enforcers. I wouldn't go there if my life depended on it."

Jacen scratched his head and tried to take in this new reality. Hapes was the wretched hive of scum and villainy, and Tattooine was a military base.

_What next? Kashyyyk is a petting zoo?_

"Enforcers?"

"Sith minions who can use the Force, but aren't Sith Lords." Han filled in. "Whoever their leader is has Sith Lords who oversee everything, Enforcers who do their bidding, and then they have their military that is subservient to all of the Sith."

"I see," Jacen said drawing quiet for a moment. It was all almost too bizarre to believe. How could the galaxy become so screwed up in a hundred years? That everything billions of people fought for and built since the downfall of the Empire had been for nothing?

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch the rest of your names," Jacen said trying to be polite and give himself time to wrap his head around the state of affairs in the galaxy.

"I'm Callie!" The little girl shouted excitedly. "And Mommy's Mireya, but she doesn't want me saying that so I call her Mommy."

"Callie!" Mireya said, picking up her little girl with a laugh.

"I go by 'Shadow,'" Han said. "I'd prefer if you call me by that, especially in public. We don't use our real names. No thanks to you, Solo is equated with the Jedi as much as Skywalker, and there are no safe ports for Jedi anymore."

"Nova," Mireya said with a broad grin, reaching out to shake Jacen's hand. "Shadow once said my hair looks like a supernova of colour."

"My sister, Tasha, goes by 'Smoke,'" Shadow said. "Dad once said we were like shadows and smoke when we snuck around the ship, and it kinda stuck."

"Your sister!" Nova exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear. "He tripped the power before we launched!"

Shadow pushed past Jacen and nearly tripped over Womprat on his way out of the cockpit. Jacen barely kept up, following him around the ship to the medical bay. Before Jacen arrived Han was already pounding on a display terminal that had not been part of the ship when Jacen owned it. From what he could tell, the prognosis was not good for the young woman who looked remarkably like Jaina with red hair.

"What's wrong with her?" Jacen asked.

"She's in a healing trance," Shadow explained distractedly. "She was trying to get parts for the ship from a Vong junk dealer a month ago and was sprayed with some spore-based compound. She got really weak and nearly died. This machine and the trance are the only things keeping her alive...and she's crashing!"

"What do you know about the compound?" Jacen asked, picking up a bottle of water and drinking half of it. The stale flavour almost made him choke, and he made a mental note to check the water filtration system.

"It is attacking her immune system," Shadow said. "Nothing we've done can break down the spores."

"Is this her blood sample?" Jacen asked, holding up a red phial he took from the transparisteel wall cabinet.

"Yes," he replied. "I dare not take more because of her condition."

"Right," Jacen said. He dumped half of the blood sample into the half-empty bottle of water and concentrated on it while the other man frantically tried to save his sister's life with the medical suite.

"Nothing's working!" Shadow slammed his fists on the panel while oblivious to Jacen's actions behind him.

"Try this," Jacen said, handing him the bottle of water. "Just dump it on her skin."

Shadow looked at his great-grandfather skeptically and brushed him aside to rifle through the medical cabinet for something he may have missed.

"I don't know where you've been for the last hundred years, but water isn't a cure for anything except thirst. Get out before I..."

A steady beep from the medical console brought Shadow's attention back to his sister and Jacen felt a panic rise in the younger man's chest.

"Move," Jacen said.

"Out!" Shadow demanded, frantically searching through the empty meds canisters on the counter for something – anything – to re-establish a heart-beat.

Jacen used the Force to push Shadow out of the way and hold him against the bulkhead.

"Let me go!" He shouted, thrashing against the wall. Jacen merely dumped the bottle of water across the young girl's body, put a hand on her forehead, and closed his eyes. A moment later her eyes shot open and she jolted up in surprise.

"Han?" She asked looking about wildly at the sight of her brother pinned against the bulkhead and a strange, yet familiar, man standing above her, supporting her from falling backward with a strong arm.

"Tasha!" Shadow replied. "You shouldn't be awake!"

"No, I feel fine," she said softly.

"You should rest to regain your strength," Jacen advised, stopping her from trying to stand with a hand on her shoulder and a gentle smile. "The bolstering effect of the antidote will wear off in a minute."

"Antidote?"

"To the Vong spores," Jacen explained, grinning sheepishly. "I'm a bit of an expert on them."

"Who are you?"

"When you wake up," Jacen said, using the Force to induce a healing trance in the young woman and ease her back onto the table. "You'll be awake soon enough."


	4. Alone among friends

Alone Among Friends

What was once a training area where Jacen and Eriana perfected their control over Vaapad and aspects of the Force under the tutelage of Yoda, Mace Windu, and the other Jedi Masters who had become one with the Force had now become the primary cargo bay for the light freighter. Since Jacen had not felt comfortable meditating anywhere else, he went back to his favourite spot in the exact centre of the room. This time, however, he did not need to levitate himself as there was a cargo container that raised him to the right height within the room.

His thoughts troubled him more than he would ever admit to himself. He still had no idea how he had transported himself into this bizarre twisted future, but he suspected that the facet of the Force he discovered was within the state of reality where energy and time were one.

"I wanted to apologize," Shadow said from the door, interrupting Jacen's musings. "I was worried about my sister..."

"No need," Jacen said, breaking his meditation and taking a deep breath. "It isn't easy letting someone else take charge about someone, or something, you care about."

"You really are Jacen Solo?"

"Yes. And don't ask me how I ended up here. I'm still trying to figure that one out myself."

"Legend has it that you knew more about the Force than anyone," Shadow said after a quiet, thoughtful moment. "It certainly seems that way from what I've seen."

"Legend?" Jacen scoffed. "I would hardly think myself as legendary. Skilled, yes, but not legendary!

"Shadow, you have to understand that I come from a time when we knew more about the Force," Jacen continued. "Uncle Luke taught me so much. Yes, I did branch out on my own and I did find other beings to learn from, but I get the impression that much of the Jedi ways has been lost to time again."

"Most of what we learned was through my great-grandmother," Shadow admitted. "She spent more time training her son on lightsaber training and governing her people than teaching him about the Force. Some was learned from Eriana, but that was so long ago and for such a short time. I can do some things my sister can't, like predict the immediate future with scary accuracy. And she can talk to animals, which I can't do. Most of the time we just fumble along and try to keep hidden."

"What happened to Eriana?" Jacen asked, filing their special skills away for later thought.

"My dad once mentioned that she took over some pirate organization," Shadow said. "That's all we know. I couldn't even tell you the name of the group."

"Pirates? That doesn't sound like Eriana," Jacen said thoughtfully. "She has never wanted to be a leader, and she abhorred piracy."

"People change."

"Not Eriana. Not that much."

A heavy silence hung between the two Jedi while both of them got lost in their own thoughts.

"You suspect there are other Jedi still alive?"

"Yes," Shadow said. "But we have no idea where they could be, otherwise _we'd_ be there."

"Okay." Jacen grinned to himself. "Where _aren't_ they?"

"Sorry?"

"Well, you said you have no idea where the Jedi are," Jacen reasoned. "Obviously you have been looking for them in your travels. Where have you _not_ gone?"

Shadow nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to look," he admitted. "C'mon, I'll show you."

Jacen followed Shadow to the main sitting area where the flat panel holodisplay was awakened to show a map of the galaxy. Shadow keyed a few commands into the display and nearly a thousand planets lit up with red markers.

"This is where we've been," Shadow said, pointing to various locations. "Bastion, Yavin, Yaga Minor, Corellia, Mon Calamari, Alderaan...all the major systems and a lot of minor ones. We've checked out past known Jedi bases. Basically anywhere where the Sith haven't touched. We're running out of places to look, and we haven't found a trace of them under thirty years old."

"A hundred years later, that doesn't surprise me," Jacen admitted, scanning the map closely. "They'll have become really good at covering their tracks. Here. Have you searched here?"

Jacen pointed to a system near the unknown regions.

"The Imperials put a space-combat training facility there before I was born," Shadow said doubtfully. "A lot has changed in a hundred years. And why would the Jedi hide in a gas giant anyway?"

"It moved," Jacen said, mostly to himself. "But that is where they've gone. I can feel it."

"You're not making any sense," Shadow said. "There aren't any planets there. I just told you that."

"No, but there _was_." Jacen grinned. "Zonoma Sekot, the living planet. If we can find it, we can find the Jedi. I _know_ it."

"Zonoma Sekot?" Nova came around the corner with Callie in hand. "That place is a myth, sweetie. Nothing but a bedtime story."

Jacen looked back to Shadow, but he found no support there.

"You're kidding, right?" Jacen asked. "The final battle of Yuuzhan'tar? Your history books don't mention a _planet_ appearing in the Coruscant system and scaring the crap out of the Yuuzhan Vong?"

He only received blank stares in reply.

"You mean nothing of my time survived?"

"The Sith did destroy much of the Jedi history," Shadow finally said rather defensively. "This planet must be part of that."

"There must be a reason," Jacen said. "Who would wipe out knowledge of Zonoma? And why?"

"Is it Zonoma or Sekot?" Nova asked. "I'm confused."

"Zonoma is the planet, Sekot is the mind," Jacen explained absentmindedly, still staring at the monitor. "I need to find it. _We_ need to find it."

"That's a great plan," Shadow said sarcastically. "I like it. We'll just go look for the mythical moving planet that has been removed from all of history to find the remains of the Jedi that we don't know exist. How about this? You start, and I'll go get the Corellian whiskey so we can celebrate. Sound good?"

"Great," Jacen said seriously. "I'll drop you off at the nearest port. You can find a new ship and Womprat and I will be on our merry way."

A moment of silence hung between the two men as Shadow sized Jacen up.

"You can't do that," Shadow said. "This ship is our _home_."

"This was my home long before you were born, kid," Jacen said. "And I know for a fact that you haven't cracked the master command codes. The last access log was a week before I disappeared – I already checked."

Shadow stared at Jacen in shock, unable to articulate any response.

"After we dock at the Karlax asteroids and do some repairs, we'll search for Zonoma," Jacen said. He walked toward the back of the ship and turned back for a moment. "I know you have an obligation to your family, but I have an obligation to mine as well. Finding the remaining Jedi may be the only way to fix this problem before it starts."

* * *

><p>The upgraded medical suite beeped softly in tune with the sleepy heartbeat of Tasha Solo, Jacen's great granddaughter. Jacen watched the slow, shallow breathing of the healing trance-induced slumber and wondered about how lucky he was. Not only had his family line survived three generations after him while being hunted by the Sith – no, <em>four<em> generations, including Callie – but he was able to witness them first hand. As reassuring as this prospect was, it also brought him grave concern. From what he understood, the Sith had become the dominant power in the galaxy again and had done it with brute force instead of political guile. The way he saw it there were two options; He could either fight with his descendants, or try to return and prevent this timeline from happening...but who was he to deny these people their existence? There was no guarantee any of them would be born if he did return or that he could fix the timeline. And how many lives would be lost guaranteeing his family line continued? There's no way he would let himself be that selfish.

"Han?"

"No, it's Jacen."

"Is...is this a _vision_?" Tasha asked dreamily, opening her eyes and looking over at him.

Jacen laughed softly. _Of course, she knows nothing about me except what she heard passed down the family line._

"Yes, but your other senses might work as well," Jacen joked. "Here, let me help you sit up."

Tasha sat up with Jacen's help and swung her legs off the side of the medical bed.

"You're the one who healed me," Tasha said, earning a silent nod of acknowledgement from Jacen. "Who are you?"

"You'll hardly believe it, but I'm your great-grandfather," Jacen said. "Don't ask how I'm here – I don't know yet. But I hope to figure it out so I can go back to my time."

"Oh," Tasha said softly. She had a very soft, tentative demeanour that radiated calmness and curiosity. He found himself calmer just being in her presence before he realized she was using the Force on him unintentionally. While he felt he could use the calm, he blocked her influence to keep his guard up.

"You're completely cured from the Yuuzhan Vong spore infection," Jacen explained. "My Aunt Mara had a similar infection, but I didn't know what to do about it at the time. You'll need a couple days of rest to get your strength back but you'll be fine."

"Are you a doctor, too?"

"I learned some healing techniques while I lived among the Yuuzhan Vong," Jacen explained. "Both traditional and...unorthodox."

"You came at a very good time," Tasha said. "I was nearly ready to let go."

"I thought there was Solo and Skywalker blood in you," Jacen asked, punching her softly on the arm.

"It is a little diluted," Tasha said abashedly.

"Not one bit. You look just like my sister," Jacen said. "Especially after that one time she had me dye her hair and, well…the results weren't what she expected."

Tasha laughed openly, showing more strength than Jacen thought she might have.

"I'd like to learn from you," Tasha said. "We could learn a lot from you. We haven't had a Jedi Master on board for nearly a hundred years."

"When your strength is up, I'd be happy to teach you," Jacen said. "But, to be honest, I have other plans."

"What will you do now...," Tasha's thoughts trailed off. "What do I call you? 'Great-Grandfather' doesn't seem right for someone so young."

"Jacen will be fine. You'll have to forgive me, Smoke, I haven't a nickname."

"They're our protection," Tasha said solemnly. "Nobody can know we're Jedi. There is too much at risk."

"We're going to find the others," Jacen promised. "I think I know where they are, or who might know where to look. After we do some repairs, we'll head out to find my friend."

"Shadow won't like that," Tasha said despite the hope Jacen sensed welling within her. "He wants to protect us, and he doesn't think the Jedi exist anymore. I make him look everywhere we go, but he no longer believes we can find them."

"We will," Jacen assured her. "I may be a hundred years out of date, but this old rancor still has a few tricks up his sleeve."

"I want to walk," Tasha said softly. "Can you help me?"

Jacen helped ease her to the ground and put an arm around her waist to help her along. Now that she was standing she reminded him even more of Jaina – they had to be within a centimetre of each other's height.

"My quarters are by the cockpit," Tasha said, smiling. "A privilege of being the older sibling."

"That was my cabin," Jacen said as they started along. "Eriana preferred the one with the window at the back, and I wanted to be closer to the cockpit."

"I don't think we have a spare room now," Tasha said sadly. "Callie has her own beside Shadow and Nova, and I have the front room."

"I can sleep anywhere," Jacen said before she could offer her room. "Don't worry about me. I know a few good places to curl up."

At the door to her room, he pressed in his old key code and the door opened.

"How...?"

"The ship is hardwired to accept my commands," Jacen explained, helping her into her room. "A fact your brother doesn't seem overly impressed about."

"He's been working on the master codes for years," Tasha admitted. "Womprat refused to give them up."

"Annoying little trashcan," Jacen remarked. "He doesn't know them. Or at least he doesn't know he knows them. I made sure of _that_."

"You don't trust Womprat?"

"It isn't that I don't trust him," Jacen said. "But I trust him to be exactly as he is programmed to be. And that can be concerning in many different ways."

"I never understood why you kept an assassin droid on board, but he is useful."

"You won't find many droids with that diverse of programming. I'll leave you to get changed. I'll be right outside the door if you need me."

Jacen stepped out and allowed the door to close.

"I want you to stay away from my sister," Shadow appeared like a ghost from the corridor that lead to the crew quarters. "She is still weak from her sickness and I want her to recover."

"How much of your training included healing techniques?" Jacen asked. The uncomfortable look from Shadow gave him all the answer he needed. "I'm the closest to a medic you have on board."

Tasha's door opened and she appeared fully dressed, including lightsaber on her belt.

"Oh, Han, I'm feeling great," Tasha said brightly. "I can't wait to start more training."

The hyperspace warning alarm sounded, indicating the ship was near its destination.

"We'll discuss this later," Shadow said. He retreated to the cockpit, and the other two followed him. Jacen took the co-pilot's seat, and Tasha stood behind him.

At the appropriate time, Shadow disengaged the hyperdrive and the stars stretched back into dots. They found themselves just at the end of a wide flat asteroid field full of rocks that tumbled through space and time.

"That one," Jacen pointed to a rather large asteroid. "In the middle there is a crevasse that goes almost all the way to the middle. There is a hanger bay hidden down there. Once we're down, Womprat and I will go out and activate the power systems."

"Our space suit was damaged," Tasha said. "We couldn't afford a spare."

"Rebreather mask?"

"We needed the parts for the life support system," Shadow said.

"Do you still have my Mandalorian armour in the armoury?"

Both siblings turned to face him.

"What armoury?"


	5. Intruders

Intruders

The hermetic seal on the armoury hidden behind the flat panel holodisplay kept all the lightsabers, blasters, and Jacen's Mandalorian armour in nearly perfect condition despite the passage of over a hundred years. Replacing his Jedi robes, the armour clicked into place like it had last been worn yesterday, and the gasket seals held once the suit was switched over to internal oxygen. Somehow Jacen felt funny carrying a lightsaber with the armour, so he had left his lightsaber in the armoury in favour of the old specialized sniper rifle blaster he carried in his time with Lanos's team. He clamped a uni-directional glowrod to the barrel as a backup should his helmet's night vision malfunction.

"I still can't believe Womprat never told us about all of these hidden compartments," Shadow said for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Or that you were a Mandalorian."

"It doesn't surprise me," Jacen said, his helmet making his voice sound much deeper than normal. "They all require the Force to open. He was probably bitter about that fact."

Womprat seemed unable to hear the comments, despite being on the loading ramp beside Jacen.

"Ready?"

"Seal the ship and drop the ramp," Jacen acknowledged, activating the magnetic boot clamps that would prevent him from floating away. "We won't be long."

Shadow retreated back into the ship and sealed the inner airlock door. The green air pressure light switched to red, and the ramp descended. Jacen punched a command into his arm control panel and his night vision came on. Another button activated the private frequency to Womprat.

"I'm sensing something I shouldn't be," Jacen warned, thankful he had his blaster with him. "Keep your sensors sharp and your blasters primed. Move out behind that stack of crates over there and cover me."

Jacen crept down the ramp, carefully assessing the dark hanger with the HUD sensors to find out what was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. When he reached the bottom of the ramp, he stepped off and followed Womprat to his hiding place behind the crates.

"Shadow, raise the ramp and electrify the hull," Jacen ordered. "Something is amiss."

"Care to share?"

"I'd love to, but I need something _to_ share first. I'm going off a feeling."

The ramp silently ascended in the vacuum while Jacen continued to scan the interior of the hanger. Unfortunately, the range of his sensors under night vision mode was limited.

"I can't see anything," Jacen said. "Activate the exterior floodlights."

At the flash of blinding light from the _Rising Star_, something dropped on Jacen.

"What the...?" Jacen twisted around tried to bring his blaster around, but the heavy black shell of his attacker was knocked off him.

"Assessment: Bartokk Assassins," Womprat said. "Insectoids with a hive mind, vast regenerative powers, and strong outer shell. Hard, but _fun_ to kill."

Three more dropped around Jacen. The first one took all five barrels from Jacen's blaster in the chest, and another fell to a barrage of disbursed blaster fire from Womprat. The third one grabbed Jacen by the ankle with one of his lowest claws and lifted him easily in the limited gravity. The sudden lurch made Jacen drop his blaster and he did not have time to see where it landed. With the minimal gravity, it could be half way across the bay.

"Womprat!"

"Under attack, Master!"

Jacen barely noticed three more of the assassins swarming Womprat. The one with the massive hole in its chest seemed intent on grabbing Jacen's arms as he floated in mid-air, held up by his ankle.

"Shadow, Smoke," Jacen shouted. "Gunner turrets! We're under attack!"

Jacen reached for his lightsaber, but he remembered too late that he left it behind.

The other Bartokk took this moment of distraction to grab Jacen by the helmet and he felt the two pulling at him in a bizarre game of tug-of-war where he was the rope.

Red lights flashed on the HUD in tune with a warning buzzer to indicate extreme pressure on the armour's structural integrity. At any other time he would shower the Bartokks with lightning and force them back, but Mandalorian armour had the unfortunate side effect of insulating the wearer from most forms of electricity – or, conversely, containing electricity within.

Telekinesis would have to do.

A third Bartokk grabbed Jacen's left arm, but the Force got the best of it, sending the Bartokk away with enough velocity to crack the exoskeleton against a far wall. The one holding Jacen's ankles departed next, and Jacen barely saw it bounce off the far wall as his feet floated back to the ground. He used the Force to wretch open the claws of the one clutching his helmet before shoving it away. Five more of the insectoids dropped around Jacen, but he jumped in the air, drew the Force into a cohesive ball of energy at his chest, and then released it, telekinetically shredding the nearest five assassins. Before his feet touched the ground, Jacen yanked two lightsabers through time and space from the armoury using an Aing-tii technique and ignited the blades. Even though he knew from past experience that chopping a Bartokk in half only increased the number of enemies to deal with, he figured that two half assassins would be easier to fight than one whole assassin.

The appearance of gold and green lightsabers did not deter the assassins one bit. Ten more appeared around Jacen, encircling him while five more came from outside the circle to attack Jacen at the same time. A huge blaster bolt lanced across Jacen's field of vision and four Bartokks disappeared. Another stream of light took out another four behind Jacen, and his lightsabers hacked and slashed the other two to pieces.

Finally having a second to assess the situation, Jacen saw Womprat manoeuvring through the air on his repulsors about three metres off the ground, firing at seven Bartokks with both precision and volume. About fifty Bartokks crawled from the access points across the roof and walls as they attempted to encircle the intruders, but Jacen was in the clear for a moment.

_There must be a nest of them._

Jacen reached out with his empathic abilities and touched the hive mind. It initially caught him off guard, but he pressed his mind deeper into their hive.

"They're protecting a queen," Jacen announced and cut off contact from the hive. "She made this place into a nest. I'm going after her."

Jacen activated the cloaking field on his suit of armour and sprinted towards the hallways leading deeper into the base. He avoided contact with the Bartokks, slipping past them, jumping over them, or ducking beneath them as he ran deeper into the facility. There was really only one place a queen would base herself – the control room. A minute later, Jacen entered the redecorated control room. A massive queen, nearly twice Jacen's height and width and about five times heavier, sat in the middle of the room. Part of Jacen was utterly fascinated by the queen surrounded by workers who tended her eggs, the drones that stood guard around the room, and the organic webbing used to make the control room her new home. The stronger part of Jacen was still worried about his family. He walked to five metres in front of the queen and deactivated his cloak.

The queen's reaction was as immediate as it would have been deadly. She lashed out with her pincer as several drones rushed forward, but Jacen caught them with telekinesis.

[You're in my base,] Jacen said through the Force, intruding upon the hive mind in the absence of atmosphere to carry voices. [Explain yourself.]

The queen, utterly confused about her uncooperative limb, her floating drones, and the new voice in her head was too befuddled to resist. She focused her cluster of eyes on the intruder inquisitively.

[I am Queen Techtacha,] She responded. [This has been our home for a hundred birth cycles. _You_ intrude upon _us_, assassin.]

[You attacked first,] Jacen replied, quickly trying to recall what he knew about Bartokks. Queen generally had five birth cycles per standard year… [This was my base _five_ hundred birth cycles ago. We came here to repair our ship. We will leave when that is done.]

[No,] Queen Techtacha said. The workers stopped and looked up at Jacen, clacking their mandibles as if they might have to eat him to protect their queen. [We must stay safe. The hive must survive.]

[My hive must survive, too.]

[Then we are at an impasse.]

[Our survival is not mutually exclusive,] Jacen said. He was starting to tire from using the Force to hold back the queen and the drones as well as communicate with her, but he knew the end was near. [We can survive together. If you let us repair our ship, we will protect your secret. Your hive will survive.]

[Assassins who intrude the hive cannot be trusted,] Queen Techtacha argued, twitching against his restraint.

[If I was an assassin,] Jacen said. [You would already be dead. Reconsider. Two days, and we'll leave. You have my word as a Jedi Master.]

Jacen could sense the conflict within Queen Techtacha's mind and wished she would make up her mind sooner rather than later. The strain of holding back the insects was making his head pound and every second he spent holding them back he was draining energy that may be needed to fight later.

[Call off your hive, Jedi Master,] Queen Techtacha said. Jacen felt the resistance from her pincer retract. [I will grant you two of your days.]

* * *

><p>Queen Techtacha did more than allow the weary Jedi a temporary sanctuary. Jacen and Smoke spent much of their time speaking to her through the hive mind, learning about how she came across this asteroid field and why she made it into her base of operations. This location was the first of dozens in the asteroid field that her drones had come to occupy. Each location housed hanger bays for the assassins to operate out of, and one even had another sub-hive led by her daughter. After the political instabilities that occurred due to the Sith and Jedi War the Bartokks decided to spread their network wide to prevent either side of the conflict from destroying the Bartokks and their specialized skills. Queen Techtacha took her own hive to the asteroid, and continued to operate in relative secrecy from the rest of the galaxy.<p>

While Jacen and Smoke spoke to the Queen, the drones assisted the others with repairs on the ship. Much of the parts that Jacen had left behind, virtually an entire disassembled YT-2400, were largely untouched in crates stored in a lower storage bay the Bartokks never even explored. It had been Eriana's idea to hide the crates in a lower level to deter theft, but Jacen did not expect them to be intact when he learned about the amount of time the Bartokks had spent in the base.

Thanks to the efficiency of the hive mind, the ship was refurbished in under twenty-four hours, and the Jedi left the Bartokks behind with the sincere promise of secrecy.


	6. Heart's Desire

AN: Sorry for the irregular posting. I forgot to post on Friday before leaving for camp...

* * *

><p><strong>Heart's Desire<strong>

"Do you ever do anything other than meditate?"

Jacen cocked his head to look at the entrance of the cargo bay and sighed.

"I'm looking for Sekot, Shadow," Jacen said. "It takes a bit of concentration to find a Force sensitive planet that doesn't want to be found."

"If it is still out there."

"If, indeed," Jacen agreed, resuming his meditations.

"We've been sitting here for almost two days," Shadow interrupted again.

"And we'll probably be sitting here for another week if you keep interrupting me." Jacen allowed his annoyance to creep into his voice.

"I'm losing credits here," Shadow said. "I have…"

"Repairs to make?" Jacen asked, finally turning away from his meditations. "Food to buy? What, Han? We just fixed every system on the ship. There's nothing to repair. We have three months worth of rations. Sure they are old Imperial era stormtrooper rations, but they'll keep us alive. Right now, we don't have _anything_ more pressing to do than finding Sekot. This sector of space hasn't been disturbed in years, and nobody is likely to find us here."

"Do you even know where we are?" Shadow demanded. "Ever since you stepped foot on this ship you've all but taken over…"

"I stepped foot on this ship a hundred years before you were born," Jacen interrupted. "I don't have time for this. Get out."

"I will not be ordered around on my own ship!" Shadow pulled his blaster and pointed it at Jacen. "I've had enough of this! The Jedi are gone, and we'll never find them. Both you and Tasha have to let go and get on with your lives."

Jacen got off his meditation container and reached out with the Force. He fired the blaster and caught the bolt on the palm of his hand, dissipating the energy back into the Force. Shadow stared at him in surprise, but did not put the blaster away.

"I haven't tried it with a lightsaber blade, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult," Jacen said. "But you're right. This isn't working."

"I'm glad you've finally seen the light," Shadow said smugly, tucking his blaster back in his holster.

"I need Tasha," Jacen admitted, walking past Shadow out of the cargo bay. "I can't find Sekot on my own, but with her help, I should be able to. I won't even bother asking you."

"Now just stop right there," Shadow said. "We're not going after..."

The ship lurched as it jumped to light speed and both men looked at each other suspiciously.

"Wasn't me," Shadow said.

"Me, neither."

They both rushed to the cockpit and found Smoke slumped over in the pilot chair. Jacen put a hand on her forehead to wake her up and Shadow accessed the navicomputer.

"Smoke, where are we going?" Jacen asked as she returned to consciousness.

"Jacen?" She replied. "How did I get here?"

"Navicomputer is blank," Shadow said. "She made a blind jump on a timer."

"I'm not entirely sure about that," Jacen said. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was meditating in my cabin and then I woke up here."

"A vision?" Shadow asked.

"Could be," Jacen agreed. "For now, we'll let the ship guide us. How much time do we have?"

"Eight hours."

* * *

><p>The occupants of the <em>Rising Star<em> spent the eight hours in hyperspace fussing over Smoke, meditating, training, sleeping and eating with eager anticipation to find out what awaited them at their destination. Jacen and Womprat used this time to repair the damage the Mandalorian armour took from the Bartokk attack as well as perform some minor repairs on Womprat. After hearing that the Mandalorians were now all but extinct thanks to the Sith, Jacen decided that using his armour as a disguise would have little worth and repainted it with a Corellian Jedi theme. Mostly black, he painted forest green lines around the helmet and down to the ankles as if to simulate a green hemmed robe. As a memory to his former squad mates, he painted gold, red, blue, and black stripes on the left bicep. Inside the bands of colour, he included the names of the Mandalorians he once called friends. On the right bicep, in honour of his family, he included Corellian Blood Stripes and his father's name, and the lightsaber blade colours and names of his mom, Jaina, Anakin, and Tenel Ka.

As if through an unspoken agreement, all of the occupants congregated in the cockpit just before the timer ran out on the hyperspace jump, except for Womprat who took his position tied into the dorsal gunner turret.

"Wouldn't it suck if there was a black hole waiting for us?" Jacen joked as the timer started counting the last ten seconds.

"Not funny," Shadow growled.

The ship tore into real space and Nova activated the sensor suite to determine their surroundings.

"This is the Kessel system," Jacen said, recognizing the cluster of black holes near the distant bean-shaped reddish planet famous for spice – a narcotic excretion from spiders that was mined by prisoners. "Why would we be here?"

"I've never heard of it," Shadow said. "Looks like a horrible place to visit. These gravetic anomalies are off the chart."

"You're a smuggler and you've never heard of Kessel?" Jacen asked. "It's the biggest spice producer in the galaxy."

"Spice?" Smoke said. "Spice has been solely produced on Ryloth for ages. I think I heard about Kessel once."

"Well, we have two options," Jacen said. "We can go down to the planet and see if anyone is there, or we can fly through the Maw and see if anyone is there."

"The Maw?"

"You don't mean those black holes there, do you?" Nova asked. "Did you see these readings? It'd be suicide to go in there."

"There are paths into the middle of it," Jacen said. "But none of them are large enough for Sekot. Unless Sekot _moved_ the black holes."

"You are so full of yourself," Shadow said. "I don't want to risk it. We'll go to the planet."

"As you wish."

* * *

><p>Kessel's rocky red ground crunched under Jacen's armoured feet as he bounced along the long-deserted spaceport in low gravity, once again wearing his Mandalorian armour. This time he carried the blaster in hand and his two lightsabers on his belt, as well as several explosives.<p>

"I'm not really sensing anything except the spice spiders," Jacen remarked. "This place is long deserted."

"We're here for a reason," Smoke said from the ship. "I can _feel_ it."

Jacen reached the main entrance facing the spaceport and cautiously entered the facility, blaster at the ready. He explored the offices and made reports back to the ship informing them of his progress, but not even a spider hatchling was to be seen. The glitterstim spiders were hyper-photosensitive and stayed away from light, so it did not surprise Jacen that they stayed within the caves below.

After half an hour of searching the facility Jacen located some rebreather masks and returned them to the ship so his companions could join him. Nova and Shadow followed him back to the offices while Smoke stayed behind to take care of Callie.

"The central database appears to be intact," Jacen noted as he showed them around. "But there isn't any power. Can you see about getting the generator up and running, Nova?"

Nova disappeared down the hall and Shadow glared at Jacen for a moment.

"Yes?"

"Nothing," Shadow said, and followed Nova down the hall. Several minutes later the lights flickered on and the datacore whirled into activity.

"That did it," Jacen reported, already watching the start up procedure scroll before him on the desk terminal. A splattering of long-dried blood on the terminal barely obstructed his view, so he did not bother trying to wipe off any more than the dust that had accumulated. After a few seconds, a login screen appeared with the words 'System in Permanent Lock Down. Please enter administrator login:'

LCalrissian, Jacen typed in on a hunch.

_What could his password be?_

"Did you get in?" Shadow asked, appearing at the door with Nova.

"Give me a second."

With the Force guiding his fingers, Jacen typed in MillenniumFalcon and hit the accept button.

The screen flickered and provided a list of video entries, the last one dated about eighty years before the current date. He cued it up, and the image of an older Lando than Jacen had remembered appeared.

_These Sith bastards have done it again_, the image of Lando said. _They've forced me to lower production, even though I agreed to only produce medical supplies for them. I swear, the discovery that diluted glitterstim could be converted into a cheap, potent sedative was the worst one I ever made._

_They've captured Tendra and our kids. I don't know if I'll ever see them again. With Han, Leia, Jaina, Jacen, Luke and Mara dead, there's almost no point to living anymore. These parasites that call themselves Sith have taken everything worth living for. I don't even know why I'm making this recording. I've decided to run and destroy everything I can on this blasted planet. Maybe I'll meet up with Eriana at her base in the Maw and take that project she asked me to make for her. Smart girl, Eriana. Under the guise of an old pirate group she took over, she has built an organization out of the ashes of Karrde's that would've made Car'das's look like a school yard gang. Just last week she duped the Sith into attacking her base, blew it up, and they completely missed the secondary base she had established deeper in the Maw. Took half the fleet with it, too. There's no way they'd ever find her other base, not with the mind tricks that girl knows. Ever since the Jedi Council was killed she practically took over the Jedi Order herself, hiding it where nobody would ever find it. If the galaxy ever recovers from this Sith invasion, she'll be the one to thank. Who knows where else she hid a base? I just hope I live long enough to see the end of this Darth..._

Everyone jumped as a blaster bolt lanced across the screen and caught Lando in the chest.

_Traitor!_ Someone shouted on the recording. The last image they saw was of Lando painfully reaching to hit a button on the console before it cut out.

"I guess the old guy didn't get a chance to destroy the database," Shadow remarked.

Jacen removed his helmet and right glove and wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand. "No, I suppose not."

"You knew him?" Nova asked.

"Yeah," Jacen leaned back in the chair – the very chair Lando had been killed in. His lungs screamed at the thin Kessel air so he wiped his eyes again and replaced his helmet. "He was like an uncle to us.

"Can we take the database with us?"

"No," Nova said. "The whole thing is tied into this specific power generator. They won't work separately. We can get Womprat over here and download some of it if you want. I suggest we do it quickly. I don't know how much life is left in the generator."

Jacen keyed the communicator on his wrist.

"Womprat, get over here and bring some extra storage. I have a database I need taken with us. And you can blow it up afterward."

* * *

><p>Jacen spent the next couple hours scrolling through old entries in Lando's database as Womprat downloaded as much of it as he could. Nova and Shadow returned to the ship, no doubt to argue with Smoke about leaving Jacen on Kessel and finding work – an ultimately futile argument given that Jacen had locked out the engines.<p>

He did not find anything as worthwhile as the first recording they watched. Most of the recordings were about day-to-day operations, messages recorded for Tendra and their child, a young boy named Caleb, or Lando's personal log recordings. He came across one about his sister that he could not bear to watch, so he ensured Womprat made a recording for later.

"Report: Master, I have to check the...er...flow rate on the power generator while this download completes," Womprat said. "I will return shortly."

"Sure," Jacen said, engrossed in an old report on hoverball championships Lando lost bets on. About twenty minutes later, Jacen looked up from the display and noticed that Womprat had not returned, but the portable storage device indicated the download was complete.

"Womprat, the download is done," Jacen broadcast. After a few moments of silence, Jacen disconnected the storage device and left Lando's office. A few doors down he found the power generator, but that room was abandoned.

"Womprat, report in immediately."

"Reporting: Right here, Master."

Jacen spun around, blaster at the ready and pointed at a blaster-wielding red humanoid droid with red eyes. It had broad shoulders, a narrow torso, and the face was the sweeping design from vocabulator plate to the back of the head - a design favoured in droids thousands of years ago.

"Womprat?" Jacen asked.

"Negative, Master. I would prefer it if you refer to my old designation, HK-47. It feels good to be humanoid once again. We must remember to thank mistress Eriana for her part in this. It was her idea to restore me to my old body design."

"Right," Jacen said. "I almost forgot you were humanoid before. Where is your old body?"

HK-47 stepped aside and indicated behind him, where the astromech shell he once inhabited tweeted in response.

"Note of derision: This is our master, fat one," HK-47 scolded. "You must listen to him.

"Explanation: I found my new body complete in a hidden chamber, just as the database indicated. Also within the database was the basic programming for an astromech droid. I made the switch very easily, and reprogrammed this droid with basic functionality. Do not worry, master. I will program him to be just as lethal as I was in his body."

"Great," Jacen said. Owning one assassin droid was tiresome enough. Now he had two. He held out the storage device. "The database is done. Do you still want to blow this place?"

"Statement: Oh, yes master!" HK-47 exclaimed. "I would be most happy to demonstrate the new capabilities of my enhanced body! Please exit immediately and prepare to watch the show!"

"What's his name?" Jacen asked, pointing to the astromech.

"Concerned Query: Are your auditory processors scrambled, master? His name is 'Fat One.' That armour is not too tight on your cranium, is it?"

"Let's go, Fat One," Jacen called to the astro droid. "Don't get caught in the explosion, HK."

* * *

><p>A glorious explosion marked the departure of the <em>Rising Star<em> as it left the surface of Kessel, a fitting tribute to HK-47's return to the galaxy. Completely surprised by the appearance of the humandoid form of their beloved astromech, they were only more surprised by his more often referrals to wonton violence and seemingly redoubled loyalty to Jacen. If they did not know any better, they may have thought that the droid was depressed about living in an astromech body for a hundred years.

While HK-47 eagerly worked on his new project, bringing the astromech up to spec with his assassination protocols, the humans gathered in the cockpit to discuss their next destination. Jacen and Smoke agreed they should explore the Maw for the base mentioned in Lando's video while Shadow and Nova wanted to leave and find some cargo to transport. Naturally, Jacen forced the final decision by threatening to lock out the main computer.

After five hours of exploring the Maw cluster, including finding the old Imperial base that had been the decoy base Lando had mentioned, Jacen finally found a tight corridor of black holes that the Force drew him to. In order to successfully navigate it, according to his calculations, he would have to fly right down the middle of the corridor where the gravetic pull of all the black holes combined created a null point of gravity that was safe to traverse. He also knew that he did not have the skill necessary to fly it, even with the Force as his ally.

"So you need my help after all?" Shadow asked. "Big tough Jedi Master can't do everything on his own?"

"We both know you're twice the pilot I'll ever be," Jacen said, not letting Shadow's tone get to him. "Jaina and Dad were, too."

"Why should I put my family at risk in that?" Shadow asked, pointing to the gauntlet of black holes Jacen wanted to fly through.

"Because you're the better pilot, and if you don't fly this ship, I will. That would put your family at _more_ risk, right?"

After about ten minutes of coaxing and debating, a threat from HK-47 promising to "slosh his fleshy, waterlogged body all over the cargo bay floor" if he betrayed the master finally convinced Shadow to pilot through the corridor of black holes.

He eased the ship toward the corridor of black holes and immediately felt the tug on one side of the ship.

"You'll have to throttle up," Nova said, running calculations on the navicomputer. "All the way. The hull won't be able to take it otherwise."

"At that speed, any error would be critical."

"Then don't make an error," Jacen said. He slammed the throttle to full, and Shadow twisted the ship through the gauntlet of black holes. The critical warning alarm bleeped nearly continuously as he wound through the gravetic disturbances, frantically trying to not overcompensate while maintaining a cohesive flight pattern through the maw. They broke through into an open area and a base appeared on an asteroid before them, but Shadow had to twist the ship to dodge a barrage of blaster bolts.

"We mean you no harm!" Smoke shouted at the comm system. "We're friends! Please stop shooting! Our weapons are offline!"

The blaster bolts subsided and Jacen ordered a stop.

"Are you kidding?" Shadow asked. "They'll blast us."

"They stopped shooting," Jacen said. "Throw engine power into the shields if you're worried. I have a good feeling about this."

"Unidentified craft, you will follow the coordinates we provide you and you will dock and prepare to be boarded," A burly voice came over the speakers. "If you power weapons or deviate from the assigned flight plan, we _will_ destroy you."


	7. In accordance with the prophecy

**In accord with the prophecy...**

The _Rising Star_ docked at one of the many airlocks on the side of the asteroid. The base was too small to house a hanger bay, and instead had docking ports all over the surface connected by pressurized tunnels. There were a dozen ships all docked around the base leaving four extra airlocks that were unused. The base itself was built on the top of the asteroid and hallways travelled from the base around to the bottom of the asteroid to maximize the area where ships could dock. Upon arrival, the occupants of the _Rising Star_ were ordered to evacuate one at a time, unarmed. After locking down the main computer, Jacen volunteered to go first, leaving his Mandalorian armour and everyone's blasters and lightsabers locked up in the armoury.

He opened the airlock and smelt the sterile air of the hallway as it rushed in through the portal. Due to the awkwardness of the asteroid base design, Jacen had to hop from the gravity of the ship to the gravity of the asteroid, which ran perpendicular to each other. He progressed along the hallway until he reached the entrance to the base.

"I'm here," He called out to the closed door.

"We know," a voice returned. "Put your hands on your head and spread your feet."

Jacen stood with his feet just past shoulder-width and put his thumbs against his ears with his hands splayed out in a child's imitation of antlers.

The door opened, and five heavily armoured guards burst into the hallway wearing uniforms that Jacen had never seen before. He did recognize on aspect of the uniform though – the crest of the Black Vornskrs. One guard grabbed Jacen's right arm, twisted it behind his back, and slapped a stun cuff on his wrist. He did the same with the left arm, and together the team of five led Jacen toward a holding cell in silence.

Jacen took in as much as he could on his walk through the base, but there was very little worth noting. The walls were all white panelling with no identifying marks. Everyone seemed to know where they were going even though everything looked the same. They eventually reached the brig where Jacen was tossed into unceremoniously. Over the next twenty minutes he watched as Smoke, Shadow, and finally Nova were brought into the brig and placed in separate cells by their own team of five guards.

"Where's Callie?" Shadow asked his wife.

"I don't know," Nova said tearfully. "They took her from me."

"She'll be fine," Jacen said. "A brig isn't the place for a child. They realize that."

The door to the brig opened and a severe-looking blond-haired woman about Jacen's age entered the brig in a black outfit similar to the guard uniforms, though less combat-oriented. Attached to her belt was a pair of angled lightsaber hilts and she carried a datapad.

"Your ship has a most elaborate defensive grid," She said as she examined the datapad. "Including a rather annoying droid who has locked the entire ship down and has threatened to blast any..." She paused to find the term she was looking for. "'Meatbags' that try to gain entry."

"I would advise against pushing your luck with that droid," Jacen said. "He can be rather _enthusiastic_ about his work. For a droid, that is."

"Who are you?" The woman asked, taking a step toward his cell. Jacen could not tell if she was more curious or offended by his presence. "And how did you find us?"

"My name is Jacen Solo, and..."

"Solo?" the woman demanded.

At Jacen's nod, she turned and left the room without another word.

"What was that about?" Nova asked.

"I have a hunch that I know who she is," Jacen said elusively. "But I'd rather not say just yet."

Feeling an old shoulder injury acting up from having his arm behind his back, he used the Force to unlatch the stun cuff and stretched his shoulder against the wall.

"Thanks for being so wonderfully helpful, Jacen," Shadow's sarcastic tone came across from the other side of the room.

The woman returned and slapped the console beside Jacen's cell, dropping the stun field.

"Come with me."

Jacen followed the woman back through the twisting corridors and eventually found himself standing in a medical centre.

"By the Force, it _is_ you," an elderly voice said to Jacen's right. He turned and saw an old woman, well over a hundred years older than him, but he immediately recognized her. "I thought I sensed your presence."

"Eriana!" Jacen rushed to her side and took her hand in his. Their smiles almost reached the tears of joy forming in their eyes. "It is so good to see you again."

"And you, my friend," Eriana said. "How did you end up here all these years later? You look not a day older than I remember."

"I don't know," Jacen admitted. "I was meditating, and I discovered a new facet of the Force, and I woke up on Hapes not a week ago. My great-grand kids helped me escape, and somehow we ended up at Kessel where we found a recording from Lando. He mentioned this base just before he was killed."

"Lando was the last of your parent's generation I had to rely on," Eriana recalled fondly. "He never knew, but we saved Tendra and his son from the Sith. Their descendants are here on this base, too. She passed away almost thirty years ago."

"What is this place?" Jacen asked. "Lando said you created a pirate organization?"

"I did not _create_ it, Jacen," Eriana said, stirring uncomfortably. "I merely took it over. A few months before you disappeared I was kidnapped on a mission by the remnants of the Black Vornskr pirates and I killed their leader in an honour duel. The Black Vornskrs began to follow me, even though I tried leaving. This was during the time that the Sith Empire was growing, taking over the power-void that the death of the GA created. I decided to change it from being a group of pirates to being a safe haven from the Sith. We operated as pirates, but in secret we stole to support those we kept hidden from the Sith. And we were good at it. Skywalker initially opposed it and sent Jaina to stop me, but when he understood what I had created, he embraced us. After he died, about a year after the Jedi Temple was destroyed, I took over the Jedi Order and hid it away with your friend Sekot. She promised to keep the Jedi safe until they were ready to return. I spent years building the Black Vornskrs into an organization hidden behind a guise of piracy, creating safe havens across the galaxy for the Jedi. The Sith could never catch us. I trained our Jedi in Vaapad, in stealth, and in all the techniques you taught me to ensure their survival working with us."

Eriana coughed harshly, nearly doubling over her aged frame as she could not control the coughing. The woman who had escorted Jacen to the infirmary rushed to her side, but Jacen placed a hand against Eriana's shoulder to ease the muscles and the coughing subsided.

"My time is near, my friend." Eriana's wrinkled face smiled sadly as tears streamed down her face. She removed a diamond ring from her right hand and reached for Jacen's hand. She put the ring in his palm and closed his fingers around it. For a moment he felt her touch the ring with the Force, but the feeling disappeared quickly. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you, but you must carry on where I cannot. Yoda and Luke are waiting for me beyond."

She took the young woman's hand and placed it on top of Jacen's.

"Encari, trust in Jacen as you have trusted in me," she said sincerely. "His leadership will guide you all to freedom."

Jacen and Encari looked at each other and felt the weight of Eriana's hand disappear. They both looked down and watched the empty bed sheet softly fall to rest.

* * *

><p>Jacen returned to the brig with a few guards sometime later after helping Encari back to her quarters to grieve in private. A wave of his hand deactivated the stun fields and stun cuffs, allowing his family members to step out of their cells.<p>

"This group is known as the Black Vornskrs," Jacen explained. "Eriana recreated them. I just spoke to her, and she has left them in my care."

Jacen turned to Shadow and Nova. "Callie is in a nursery with several other kids. She's fine. Smoke, please return to the _Solo Quest_ and tell HK-47 to stand down. The guards here will escort you so you don't get lost, and will provide you with quarters. We're guests, not prisoners."

"Where are you going?" Smoke asked as Jacen moved to leave the brig.

"Eriana just passed into the Force," Jacen said thickly without turning around. "I think her granddaughter needs some company."

* * *

><p>Encari answered the door when Jacen arrived and let her in. Her eyes were red from crying, but Jacen did not feel unwelcome.<p>

"Please come in," She offered, and Jacen took a seat on the couch. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Water please," Jacen said. As Encari went to the kitchenette, Jacen examined an object on her caf table – a square object he recognized. He picked it up, and a holographic image of a man appeared from the top.

"Hello, me," A miniature version of Jacen appeared before himself. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Hello, me," Jacen said in response to his holocron with a grin. "I guess I never did get around to finishing you, did I?"

"Hardly," the holocron replied. "Slacker."

"Grandma gave me that about a year ago," Encari said, handing Jacen a glass of water. He replaced the holocron on the table and she sat down across from him. "She said 'Jacen was the greatest Jedi of his age. Trust in his wisdom as I trusted in it,' when she gave it to me."

"I think she's being a bit biased," Jacen said. "My uncle was the best. He kicked me around a few times pretty good."

Encari laughed despite her grief.

"Do you know what this is?" Jacen asked, holding up the ring Eriana gave him. To his eye it was a single piece carved from a diamond or other clear gem, but it radiated with a presence in the Force.

Encari held up her right hand, showing off a similar diamond ring.

"They're the symbol of the Vornskrs," She explained. She held her hand out and touched it with the Force. A black symbol that Jacen recognized as the Black Vornskr logo appeared on the band for a second. "DNA encoded and protected by a password. We use them to identify ourselves to other members. We have several different metals to indicate rank within the organization. The two bored from Corusca gems, which are mine and hers – yours, now – signify we're the highest in the organization. Grandma set the ring to your DNA when she handed it to you. Reach out with the Force and you'll be able to activate the logo. Non-Force users brush the bottom in a unique pattern to get the logo to appear."

"'Grandma,'" Jacen said, almost chuckling. He was not sure what was harder to believe – that Eriana started a family or that she actually used one of the more obscure Force techniques he taught her. "When did Eriana find time for a family? Especially while building...this."

"One time she went behind enemy lines to save a Jedi and got trapped on a planet with him for a few days," Encari said. "And they fell in love. We couldn't keep his last name because it was too well known as a Jedi, but his name was Kyp."

"_Kyp Durron_?" Jacen asked. "You're joking!"

"No," Encari said, genuinely confused. "Why would I?"

"No reason," Jacen sipped his water evasively, thinking back to the first lightsaber lesson Eriana had taught Kyp. "Eriana said I would lead you to freedom. Do you know what that means?"

Encari pulled a datapad toward her with the Force from the table and activated it. After a moment, she handed it to him.

"She had a plan to take out Darth Masakra," Encari said. "She didn't think anyone could actually pull it off, unless the Jedi she left on Sekot were included. The plan involves their contribution, but nobody knows where to find Sekot. Not even Grandma knew."

"Who is Darth Masakra?" Jacen asked. "Did Soora finally take on a Darth title?"

Encari took the datapad for a moment and returned it to him. An image of an angry Bothan with two different coloured eyes matching his yellow and purple lightsabers appeared.

"His master appeared out of nowhere and killed Soora Bulq about five years after you disappeared. The master had been building the Sith for years, travelling from planet to planet, but he was insane. Darth Masakra learned what he could, but knew the whole time his master was unable to do more with the Sith than be a group of thugs hunting Jedi, so he killed him and took over. Masakra's tactics were as brilliant as they were brutal. The young Jedi Coalition fractured with the death of Drathan and assassination of Pellaeon in the same month, and Masakra led attacks on the Jedi Temple in the middle of it after torturing the location out of one of the Horn kids. The Jedi Coalition, which was the strongest government at the time, collapsed within days. With the Temple destroyed, the Jedi numbers were under thirty. Half were sent to Sekot with the surviving younglings, and the rest were scattered among the Black Vornskrs, seeking out Force sensitives and bringing them to a scheduled meeting point with Sekot. About fifty years ago, the Sith caught wind of the meeting place and attacked, scaring Sekot off. Nobody has heard from her since and Masakra has continued to grow stronger. He has made every effort to wipe out the Black Vornskrs, but we are too well organized."

"Is there any organized resistance other than the Vornskrs?"

"No," Encari said bitterly. "Kashyyyk and Mon Calamari were wiped out when they tried to rebel, and that stopped anyone else from trying. The survivors from both planets combined in the galaxy number fewer than the Alderaanians. The Imperial remnant caved under pressure without Pellaeon to guide them, and they were absorbed into Masakra's fleet. He systematically took out every sector of resistance, bringing the whole galaxy under Sith control. The only independent sector is Corellia, hiding behind the gravity well of Centrepoint station that has been running for over a hundred years. They've been building some of the most advanced starships for the last hundred years to protect themselves, but they're keeping hidden from the rest of the galaxy."

"What was the master's name?" Jacen asked, placing the datapad softly on the table. He suspected he already knew.

"Sekava," Encari said. "The master's name was Sekava. Insane, but amazingly cunning. Somehow he built the Sith with a fire in their hearts that no generation of Sith had before. Legend has it that it all started when a Jedi teamed up with some Mandalorians attacked him, and he barely survived. He killed them by luck more than anything. He apparently realized that a team of warriors all in it together could be unstoppable. Masakra was his first recruit."

"Who attacked him?"

Encari took the datapad again and spent a few minutes looking through it.  
>"Sorry, I found it," She finally said. "A group led by a Jedi named Tahiri Velia."<p>

"Tahiri?" Jacen snatched the datapad from Encari and frantically read the entry. "She died a year before I...no. No. This can't be."

"What?"

"The Mandalorian team that attacked Sekava, they're my team!"

"Your team?"

"I infiltrated a group of Mandalorians before the war broke out," Jacen said. "This group is the one that attacked Sekava. So Tahiri survived and somehow teamed up with them?"

"That's what it says," Encari replied, gesturing to the datapad in Jacen's hand. "Tahiri and Jysella Horn both survived their execution on Korriban, and Tahiri joined forces with some Mandalorians. Jysella was found and tortured for information by Masakra."

"I need to get back there." Jacen stood up and made toward the door. "I have to return to the past and help Tahiri fight Sekava. Then I can stop this timeline from ever happening."

"We need you here!" Encari followed him up and grabbed his arm, locking eyes with him. "My grandmother said you're our only hope. We need you to find Sekot and lead us to take down Masakra. I can't let you leave. Not yet. Even if you can go back, this timeline will be just as desperately in need of you as your own is."

"Maybe I'm here to stop this before it even begins," Jacen said. "But I don't even know how to get back yet, so I guess you have me until then."


	8. A Wookiee walks into a bar

**A Wookiee walks into a bar...**

After leaving Encari's quarters to find somewhere else to be, it did not take Jacen long to discover that there was not really anywhere else _to_ be on the Black Vornskr base. Aside from a small command centre, a nursery, medical centre, and gym, the base largely consisted of quarters and supply storage. About ten minutes into his walk he slipped the Corusca gem ring on and felt the presence of his old friend and the weight of leadership she had carried within its crystalline structure. Much like a lightsaber crystal after decades of use, Eriana's presence within the ring was unmistakable.

His feet eventually walked him to the gym where he decided he should exercise to help sort his thoughts. He started with a treadmill and ran for almost ten kilometres before Encari entered the gym. She was wearing a non-restrictive exercise outfit with her lightsabers attached at the waist. He watched as she stretched her arms and legs for a few moments before drawing her lightsabers for some warm up activities. She started with striking and blocking drills using one blade, and followed up with patterns using both. Jacen recognized much of her training regime from the routines he and Eriana had worked tirelessly on, including one that was designed specifically to make use of the odd shape of the cargo bay in the _Solo Quest_. He wondered how Eriana had explained the development of that routine since some moves involved attacking high for the specific reason of not hitting a low power conduit against the starboard bulkhead.

At the ten kilometre mark, Jacen shut the treadmill down and focused on Encari's movements. Watching her reminded Jacen so much of Eriana, right down to the minute flaws in technique he had always bugged her about – not that his was any better. She even handled stress the same way as her grandmother, throwing herself into horribly complex lightsaber drills to keep her mind off things.

Jacen's eyes unfocused, still looking in Encari's general direction, as he leaned over the treadmill handrail. Having cleared his mind through running, Jacen started to put together what he knew about his current situation.

This future was a mess. A malicious group of Sith were in control of everything, started by the crazy, messed up kid whose fractured psyche was partially Jacen's own fault. Eriana had done her best in a trying situation, but the reality was that it was too little to make a difference. Without the support of a sizable military force behind them, there was very little they could achieve now. Based on Encari's information, it sounded like the Sith Lords outnumbered the Jedi Knights at least ten-to-one, and that included the rough estimate of Jedi hidden on Sekot in that calculation. Even in the very off chance that the Jedi could mount a successful attack on the Sith and take out this Darth Masakra, there were plenty more leaders to take his place. The maw base was an obvious safe haven away from the omnipresent Sith, but he could not stay here forever. Something needed to be done.

Jacen closed his eyes and looked into the Force for guidance. He sought guidance for the future, but the Force showed him very little. He pushed his mind deeper into the folds of the Force and a rush of futures hit him at once, faster than he could comprehend. His mind blasted through to a reality hundreds of years into the future, but everything was blurry and nothing made sense to him.

_The past_, Jacen thought desperately. _Not that far._

Jacen's awareness snapped back to him like a rubber band against the arm. He could smell something earthy, hear leaves rustling, and blaster shots firing. He was also leaning against a tree in the dark instead of a treadmill in a brightly lit room.

_This is a wroshyr tree_, Jacen thought as he used the Force to adjust his eyes to the low light of the night time moon. _I'm on Kashyyyk!_

He listened to the distant blaster fire and determined it was not getting any closer. He was on solid ground, so he was not in the vast forest treetops and was likely near water. He looked around and found a hill he could easily walk up, so he set off in that direction. About half way up the hill he heard two Wookiees conversing in their native tongue. Several minutes later he saw them not far away, coming toward him from the direction of the blaster fire that was starting to illuminate an area behind a bank of trees from Jacen's new vantage point. One appeared to be wearing some sort of sack on his back, but Jacen could not make it out in the dark.

"Hey!" He called to them and waved. They both drew their bowcasters and growled an inquiry at him, one crouching low as to not provide much of a target.

"A Jedi, he is," A familiar, cranky voice said in surprise. "Away put your weapons, my friends. Approach him, I will."

What Jacen thought was a sack on one of the Wookiee's backs jumped off and approached him, ambling along using a walking stick like a cane. Jacen recognized the form of Yoda as he approached, and knelt down to speak to the old Jedi Master.

"Master Yoda, it is good to see you," Jacen said with obvious relief.

"Have me at a disadvantage, you do," Yoda crooned. "Know your name, I do not."

"Jacen Solo. What year is this?"

"Year? An interesting question, that is," Yoda said, and his eyes drew wide with comprehension. "A time traveller, you are! Sense it, I now can. Know me in the future, you do?"

"Yes," Jacen admitted. "Is this the Clone Wars?"

"The Clone Wars, this is," Yoda said. "A terrible time, it is. Sensed many Jedi deaths this hour, I did. Leave Kashyyyk, we must."

"Order 66?" Jacen asked. "That means..."

"Tell me _not_ my future!" Yoda demanded angrily, stomping his walking stick on the ground. "Dangerous, such knowledge is. Better, the less you say. Know too much I already do. Come, together we must leave. Tarfful, Chewbacca, hurry, we must."

"Chewie?"

The Wookiees approached, and Yoda scampered up Chewie's arm to his vantage point on the Wookiee's shoulder.

"Chewie!" Jacen exclaimed and grabbed the shocked Wookiee in a hug. Before Chewie could swat away the offending human, Yoda stopped him.

"Young Jedi," Yoda crooned from his vantage point on Chewbacca's back. "Think; when are you? Your friend, he is yet not."

"Right," Jacen said, releasing the offended Wookiee. "I'm sorry."

The Jedi and Wookiees raced to a clearing where an old Wookiee escape pod had been hidden among some brush. After a few minutes, the brush was cleared away and Chewie ran a system check on it.

"Very little room there is," Yoda said. "But the size of a Wookiee we together are."

Tarfful chuckled at Yoda's description and growled his good-bye to the aged Jedi Master.

"Nice to meet you, Chief," Jacen shook hands with Tarfful. "And it was great to see you again, Chewbacca."

Chewie returned from his system check and made a confused noise. He said he hoped their paths would cross once again, though Jacen was sure the Wookiee was just being polite.

"Farewell, Mighty Chewbacca," Yoda said. "Need you, your people do."

Jacen entered the escape pod and strapped in, and Yoda jumped onto his lap. He reached over with his walking stick and poked a button that closed the hatch, followed by a second button that launched the pod into space.

"Find Bail, we must," Yoda murmured after they escaped the atmosphere. Jacen sensed the Jedi Master was using the Force to hide their escape from the clone troopers as they sailed past a triangular ship that Jacen had only ever seen in history holos and as a practice target in a debris field – an obvious precursor to the Victory and Imperial Star Destroyers. Yoda pressed several buttons, again with his walking stick, and set the communication system to broadcast on an encrypted frequency.

"Bail Antilles," A cultured voice said after a few moments. "Master Yoda, is that you?"

"It is," Yoda said. "Your assistance, I need. A great loss, the Jedi have suffered."

"The Jedi Temple was attacked by clone troopers," Bail said. "I am departing Coruscant now. It is not safe here."

"Nowhere, is it safe."

"Meet me at..." Bail rattled off a series of coordinates.

"There, I will meet you."

Yoda terminated the communication link and requested Jacen plot a course for the location provided by Bail. The pod jumped into hyperspace, and Yoda finally relaxed despite still being deeply troubled.

"Master, I don't know why I am here," Jacen finally said.

"Into the Force, you were looking," Yoda said heavily, turning to face Jacen. "And a dangerous place you found. Control it, you cannot."

"Yes," Jacen admitted. "I've learned so much exploring facets of the Force the Jedi have never looked into..."

"Never?" Yoda whacked Jacen's arm with his walking stick. "These same areas, found I have. Too dangerous they are. Lightly, time travel should _not_ be taken. Far, far too dangerous. Twice I travelled through time. _Never_ again. Never."

"I'm starting to realize that," Jacen said. He had never seen Yoda this adamant against using an aspect of the Force. "I've travelled through time twice now. Once into the future, and now to the past, both relevant to my own time period in some way. Both times I haven't been able to control it - it just happened."

"'Just happen,' it does not," Yoda scolded. "Your thoughts, the Force listens to. The end of your journey, I fear this is not. Learn something before return to your own time you must. Meditate, I will."

Yoda hopped down to the floor of the escape pod and sat down to mediate. Seeing nothing else to do in the escape pod, Jacen closed his eyes and let his consciousness drift into the Force.

* * *

><p>Several hours passed while the consciousnesses of the occupants of the escape pod were outside the realm of normal time. During that time, escape pod had dropped out of hyperspace and was caught in a tractor beam. The sudden lurch from the tractor beam startled Jacen awake. Somewhere amid his meditations, he must have fallen asleep. While Jacen rubbed the sleep from his eyes he felt Yoda coming out of his meditation trance.<p>

"About your future, more I want to hear," Yoda said to Jacen as the escape pod entered the hanger bay of an old Corellian corvette. "But of my future, of our futures, nothing can we hear. Our own lives we must live. The terms of my help, these are."

"I understand," Jacen said. "I will keep details to a minimum where I can."

The pod landed, set down the tractor beam, and Jacen saw a contingent of guards lining up outside the pod.

"I should have a fake name," Jacen said suddenly, remembering how famous his dad would become. "It would be best...for the future."

"Have you an idea?"

"Jenos Indanian," Jacen suggested. "My dad once used that alias, but the name is fake. Nobody could track it back to me."

"Jedi Knight Jenos, you are," Yoda said, and whacked the release button with his gimmer stick. With a gasp of air the hatch opened and the Jedi Master hopped out.

"Master Yoda, when we saw the reports we feared the worse," A man that Jacen barely recognized from an old holo as Bail Organa spoke to Yoda as Jacen exited the pod. "General Kenobi has contacted us and is on his way here. We have heard from no other Jedi."

"Jedi Knight Jenos, Senator Bail Organa," Yoda introduced Jacen to his mother's adoptive father. "Lucky to escape Kashyyyk with me, he was."

"A pleasure to meet you, Senator," Jacen said, bowing his head to the man who would soon adopt his mother. "These are dark times."

"Far too dark for my liking, Master Jedi," Bail replied grimly. "Come, we must discuss the events of today."

* * *

><p>Several hours into the briefing of Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived at the <em>Tantive IV<em> and was ushered to the conference room where Yoda, Jacen, and Bail were recounting the events of the last day. After filling in Obi-Wan and hearing his report about a planet called Utapau that Jacen had never heard of before, Yoda and Obi-Wan agreed to return to Coruscant to stop the transmission from the Jedi Temple and broadcast a warning to any surviving Jedi and to confront Palpatine. Bail Organa left to order a return to Coruscant, and the three Jedi sat alone in the conference room. Obi-Wan immediately addressed the bantha in the room upon Bail's departure.

"Forgive me, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said. "But who is this Jedi? I have never seen him before."

"I am from...another time," Jacen said carefully. "Yoda has told me not to discuss too much about my time, or about anything I may or may not know about your time."

"So you're from the future?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I have been to the future," Jacen said evasively, but truthfully. "Forgive me, Obi-Wan, but you cannot know what I know. The more I tell you, the more I'll influence, and I've done enough damage as it is."

"Trust this Jedi Knight, we can, Obi-Wan," Yoda said. "About your troubles, you must now tell us."

Jacen took a few minutes to collect his thoughts, keeping in mind he had to be ambiguous in order to tell as little detail about the future as possible while still providing them enough information to help.

"In the time I come from originally, the galaxy is at relative peace," Jacen said. "We just fought a war and there is a lot of chaos, but there is a lot of potential to recover. One night I was meditating and I woke up far in the future. Because I disappeared, things happened that shouldn't have happened, things I could have prevented, and everything fell apart. I tried looking to the future again for inspiration, but something went wrong and I ended up on Kashyyyk and found Master Yoda. When I was in the future I learned that the Sith had taken over because I did not stop one of them from creating a new breed of Sith warriors. While everyone wanted me to stay in the future and help them fight in the resistance, I _know_ I have to return to my own time and stop the Sith before this horrible reality I witnessed can happen."

Yoda and Obi-Wan exchanged glances.

"So you were brought to the future to see what would happen, and now you're rushing around through time to try fixing things?" Obi-Wan summarized.

"Yeah," Jacen said, though did not like having the term 'rushing' applied to him regardless of how accurate it might be.

"He reminds me of Anakin, never thinking things through," Obi-Wan said to Yoda, and turned back to Jacen. "Do you have all the information you need to stop these new Sith?"

"I know who it is I need to stop, yes," Jacen said.

"Ah," Yoda said. "But know you where to find him, and when?"

"Uh...no."

"Do you know the strength of his army?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No."

"Many things, have you to learn," Yoda advised. "To the future, you must travel again. Learn all about your enemy, you must. The more a Jedi knows...

"The more a Jedi lives," Jacen finished, having heard those words a thousand times before from the ascended form of the Jedi Master.

"Go now, you must," Yoda said, covering his surprise well. "May the Force be with you."

The old Jedi Master closed his eyes and placed a hand on Jacen's hand.

* * *

><p>"Are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to join me?"<p>

"What?" Jacen asked. He looked around and blinked several times while taking in his surroundings. He was no longer in a Corellian corvette, no longer in the company of Obi-Wan and Yoda, but instead was back in the Black Vornskr gym standing on the treadmill. Encari stood in front of him, a layer of sweat making her skin glisten in the bright lights of the gym, deactivated lightsaber hilts in hand.

"I asked if you were going to join me for some lightsaber practice, or are you going to stare at me all day?" Encari said, quite obviously annoyed with him.

"I-I'm sorry. Another time perhaps," Jacen said, quite embarrassed by the implications her tone suggested. "Umm...where are your archives on the history of the Sith? I'd like to do some reading."


	9. Elusive Answers

**Elusive Answers**

Encari, Jacen, and Smoke spent several hours in the archive room scouring the records for indications of early Sith activity that could assist Jacen upon returning to his home time. A great deal of information had been lost to time, namely due to deaths, destroyed ships, and improper archiving. The records themselves were not overly extensive. They documented major battles, there were dossiers on known Sith Lords, and the closest Jacen got to something useful was a comment he almost missed about the death of Tahiri occurring on a planet in the mid-rim. There were no dates or planet names that gave any details that Jacen could have used if he returned to the past now.  
><em>But why else would Yoda send me here?<em> Jacen asked himself for the hundredth or so time. _I need to find out where and when I can stop Sekava._

"Here's something," Encari finally said, and read from a datapad displaying an article written about two years before the present. "'Lord Masakra has commissioned well-known historian Barma Karos to document the rise and glory of the Sith Empire so future generations will...,' Okay, I can't read the rest of this garbage."

Jacen took the datapad and scanned the article.

"So this Barma Karos would have taken the details right from Masakra," Jacen mused. "It says here that the history will be on exhibit at the Masakra Sith Museum on...Sithtopia? Where the hell is that?"

"The Sith Museum is a closed museum for the members of the Sith Lords," Encari explained. "It is within the Sith Temple on the planet you would remember as Coruscant."

"Let me guess," Jacen mused. "They planted their temple right over where the Jedi Temple was."

"Yes," Smoke said. "It is the most heavily guarded place in the galaxy."

"Sounds like a fun place to break into," Jacen said. "When can we leave?"

"You're not seriously considering breaking into the Sith Museum?" Encari demanded. "My grandmother told me you were our best hope, but she didn't tell me you were _crazy_!"

"Crazy, genius; it's a fine line," Jacen said dismissively. "I'm the best trained Jedi they've had to put up with in the last fifty years. They won't even know I was there. I'll sneak in, sneak out, and nobody will be the wiser."

"And if you get caught?" Smoke asked. "We can't lose you now!"

"The risk is too great," Encari said and returned to her datapad. "Keep looking. I'm sure we'll find something you can use."

* * *

><p>After three days of thoroughly searching through the base archives and coming up blank, Jacen learned a lot about the past – or, his future, depending how it was looked at – but found very little to help him out should he return to his own time. The many struggles, battles, losses and victories that Eriana and her allies went through helped Jacen understand the depth of passion the Black Vornskrs felt about their work. It really felt no different than when he looked back at the events of the Yuuzhan Vong war that his family and friends fought through. This new understanding of the situation did not help Jacen's resolve to return to his time as Encari and Smoke continued to insist he stay to help out in their time line by organizing against the Sith. It did not take long for Smoke to find her place among the Black Vornskrs helping Encari with some of her strategic planning. It was the type of challenge she had been looking for without having to become involved on the front lines.<p>

Shadow and Nova had also come to enjoy the safety of the Black Vornskr base, which brought Jacen mixed emotions. The family had finally found a safe haven to raise their child that was not aboard a light freighter planet hopping and scraping by for a living. Watching Callie play with new friends her own age only made him wonder how heartless he had to be to consider ending this child's life in a twist of time travel. But watching Callie also made him realize that if he stayed, he would never see his own unborn baby and watch him – or her! – grow up.

Trepidation about the time line aside, Jacen had the most difficulty adjusting to life among the Black Vornskrs. Immediately catapulted to hero status and put on par with Eriana in the eyes of everyone who met him, Jacen grew more uncomfortable with every member of the organization he met. Commanders asked him for advice on everything from cargo selections to patrol routes, or, in the most bizarre situation, dating advice, but he had little expertise to offer so he always deferred to Encari.

Encari picked up where Eriana left off, but Jacen suspected she had taken on a lot over the years of Eriana's decline in health, especially since the death of her mother. She gratefully accepted any help Jacen could offer, but made no attempt to hide the fact that she, and she alone, was the leader of the Black Vornskrs and that she was unwilling to share the title.

The base communicated with the rest of the organization using a series of hidden relays tied into proximity sensors that facilitated communication, but shut down and cloaked when the risk of discovery arose. While many Sith patrols had come in search of the mysterious signals in the Maw, the use of decoys transmitting gibberish eventually convinced them that the black holes themselves were creating subspace interference that toyed with their sensors and that nothing was there. The base was as safe a base as they could make it.

Jacen, Smoke, and Shadow also had the opportunity to train with several of the Jedi among the Black Vornskrs. Eriana and her family had done well training the new generation of Jedi, and he noticed a trend of superb swordsmanship among the Vornskrs that he fully expected from students of Eriana's. Like Eriana, they followed a code of conduct more similar to the Jensaraai than that of the Jedi, and were not as well-trained in the finer aspects of the Force like he was.

After a training session with several of the Black Vornskr Jedi in which Smoke and Shadow joined in, Jacen walked to one side of the gym to run through some lightsaber drills on his own to loosen up a tight muscle in his back, but Shadow followed him over.

"Smoke tells me you want to infiltrate Sithtopia," Shadow said quietly. "She said you want to learn about the Sith."

"Yeah."

"Sneaking in is a death sentence," Shadow warned. He extracted a datacard from his pocket and handed it to Jacen. "Look at this. There may be another way in. If that's what you want to do, I'll drop you off. Encari offered my family sanctuary here if I join the Vornskrs, and I told her I would."

Jacen flipped the datacard around in his hand a few times as Shadow retreated from the gym. His tight muscle could wait.

* * *

><p>"You want to <em>what<em>?" Encari demanded, leaning forward on the command chamber central holograph display terminal as everyone in the command centre turned to stare at her and Jacen. "Forget crazy, _you're a_ _fraking_ _lunatic!_"

"It's the best shot at getting in there undetected," Jacen said reasonably. "Nobody would recognize me because I'm supposed to be a hundred years dead, and I alone have the skills to survive there."

"I'm not letting you out of here to go join the Sith," Encari said with an air of finality. "You know too much about this place to risk it falling in the wrong hands."

"What are they going to do, torture me?" Jacen snorted. "I spent over a month in an Embrace of Pain. There's nothing they can do to me to make me break."

"Why is it every time I talk to you I learn something more that I really didn't want to know?"

"You're starting to sound like my sister," Jacen muttered. A pang of loneliness reminded him about his mission, and he pressed on. "I don't know if you have a better idea, but I would think having an agent inside your enemy's ranks would be useful to you."

"We already have plenty," Encari said elusively. "I don't need more."

"You don't have any among the Sith Lords," Jacen said, his intuition picking up on her elusiveness. "Admit it; you want someone in the inner circle."

"It'd be great, but I'd _never_ ask one of my people to do that," Encari said venomously. "It is practically suicide, and we don't have enough Jedi to risk on foolhardy missions like this one. Least of all, _you_."

"You don't have to ask me," Jacen responded. "In fact, I've already made up my mind. Shadow will drop me and HK-47 off at Nar Shadda where I'll sign up for Enforcer training."

"You _are_ insane," Encari muttered. "You don't even know if they'll make you a Sith Lord instead of keeping you a lowly Enforcer. Why don't you just find Barma Karos and ask him what you want to know?"

"Because he's probably dead?" Jacen mocked. "Do you honestly believe the Sith would let him run loose with their history? At the very least, they wiped his memories."

Encari finally realized that everyone was staring at them, so she grabbed Jacen by the arm and dragged him into her office. She pushed him against the wall and held him there with both hands holding his lapel.

"My people see you as a beacon of hope," She said. "We _need_ you. My grandmother's death is a serious blow to our operation, even though she hasn't done much in the last ten years because of her age. _You_ are the hero she once was to us, and you are young and capable in a way none of us are. We haven't had a real Jedi Master, not like you, in over a hundred years on our side."

"Your Jedi know Vaapad as well as I do, if not better," Jacen said.

"I didn't say we lacked _guardians_, I said we lacked _masters,_" Encari elaborated venomously, finally letting him go and pacing away. "Both Jedi and Sith have been fighting with lightsabers, depending more and more on blade mastery than using the Force to gain an upper hand."

She turned back and faced him.

"You're different," She said. "You are a Jedi first, a guardian second. You actually turned down the opportunity to practice with a lightsaber in the search of knowledge. _None_ of my Jedi would do that. We need to learn that from you. We need to learn the ways of the Force."

She walked over to her desk and picked up an object. She tossed it to him, and he caught it easily.

"That is the only Jedi holocron we have – yours," She said. "It is the only one that has survived this long. And it is incomplete. I've been through everything and it isn't much. Do you see how desperate we are for the knowledge you possess? If you leave now, we lose the greatest wealth of knowledge we've ever had."

Jacen turned the holocron over in his hand and considered it for a moment. The light on the outside of it fractured through Eriana's Corusca ring as if it was trying to draw his attention to an important detail.

"What if I finish the holocron before I leave?" Jacen asked. "There are two ways to make them. One is the structured way, adding more over time. The other is to replicate someone's personality within – their memories, their personality, all of it. You will have a portable version of me that can teach you everything I know, including my irresistible wit and charm."

"That...would be better than losing you completely," Encari admitted, ignoring his joke.

"Give me two days to prepare the holocron," Jacen said. "I can't wait any longer than that."

Encari walked right up to him and looked up into his eyes.

"You'd better know what you're doing," she said. "There is a whole galaxy I'm responsible for, and I don't want to take responsibility for your failures on top of everything else."

She left her office without another word and Jacen looked back at the holocron. He had a lot of work to do.


	10. A Liar Among Thieves

**A Liar Among Thieves...**

"Statement: Just a simple droid here, ma'am. Nothing to see. Move along."

Over the many millennia since HK-47 had first visited Nar Shadda with his original Master, the moon had not changed all that much. It was still a hive of scum and villainy, full of businesses of questionable operation, beings desperate to find some glimmer of hope in their otherwise hopeless lives, shady night clubs and shadier figures working street corners. In a particularly drab area of the city, HK-47 monitored the outside of an information dealer booth as Master Jacen had proceeded to find out about the Sith Enforcer recruitment drive.

An alone droid waiting in a place like Nar Shadda gathered much attention, especially one as shiny and new as HK-47. Many people gave him appraising looks, but Master Jacen said not to blast any meatbags unless they tried laying a hand on him. Warning statements would be reserved for anyone who lingered, such as the woman with a nasty chunk of metal through one of her nostrils and hardly any clothing covering her sloshy meatbag body.

HK-47 hated being without a weapon. Sure he had Master Jacen's lightsabers hidden within his leg compartments, high-powered retracting blasters in his forearms, an array of launchable explosives hidden within his chest cavity, and a broken down sword with parts hidden in various places that he could assemble within 2.3 seconds, but he missed the weight and feel of a good solid sniper rifle or heavy repeating blaster in his hands. Master Jacen wanted him to look as inconspicuous as possible, as a protocol droid rather than as a threatening presence hovering over his shoulder. Master Jacen had also been so kind as to purchase a beautiful Aratech repeating blaster with short range sniper capabilities and an expanded magazine capacity that HK-47 had spotted in a window after arriving on Nal Hutta using some of the funds he extracted from an ancient off-world numbered account buried deep within the Central Galactic Banking system he had created over a hundred years before. Unfortunately, Master Jacen had also insisted on carrying it slung over his shoulder to make himself look more intimidating, leaving HK-47 unarmed and feeling without adequate firepower.

"Done sulking?" Jacen asked.

"Sulking?" HK-47 inquired. "I am not programmed to sulk, Master. Take that pathetic meatbag leaning against the wall beside you: he is sulking."

The offended meatbag glared at HK-47 for a moment before walking away.

"You didn't tell me what you were going to say before you said it," Jacen said, consulting the directions he wrote on a flimsy strip. "As long as I've known you it was, 'Explanation: I am a droid,' or, 'Query: What am I?' all the time."

"Explanation: I was stuck inside the shell of an astromech droid. It was most distressing knowing my functionality was impaired. Having my new body back has made me much less distressed. If the master prefers, I can continue."

"This way," Jacen said, setting out in the directions he was given. "It doesn't matter to me. Do whatever upsets meatbags the most."

"Why, thank you master!" HK-47 exclaimed, his cranial servos almost singing with joy as his ocular sensors began searching for a target. "I shall begin torturing random meatbags immediately!"

"Correction: _Say_ whatever upsets meatbags the most."

"You are a very harsh master, Master."

"We need to discuss our mission, HK," Jacen said. He created a field of privacy using the Force, preventing sound from travelling both to and from them. "I will be joining the Sith and trying to work my way up their ranks so I can collect information on them. I will need you for your hacking skills when the time arrives."

"Oh, this is splendid, Master," HK-47 exclaimed. "I once accompanied my first master as he infiltrated the Sith on Korriban. What a pleasant adventure that was!"

"HK, I need to convince them I'm one of them," Jacen continued. "Part of that will be convincing them that you are a worthy companion for the Sith, so I need you to show your sadistic side."

HK-47 stopped and stared at Jacen.

"Okay, be as _you_ as you can be," Jacen conceited.

"It will be my greatest pleasure, Master."

* * *

><p>"Next!"<p>

Several hours after waiting in line to be tested, Jacen finally arrived at the admissions desk. A bored Rodian sat at the desk as if being there was his punishment and he could not care less about the next idiot to come along.

"Name."

"Jenos Indanian."

"Occupation."

"Bounty Hunter."

"Why do you think you should join the illustrious Sith Order?"

"Because I killed my mother."

"We've all done that." the Rodian yawned. "Next!"

Jacen put his fists on the table and stared right into the eyes of the Rodian. He used the Force to put some weight on the green alien's neck, just enough to make sure it was felt without actually choking it.

"I strangled her without even touching her from across the room. Want to witness it first hand?"

The Rodian's eyes drew large, and he scrambled to fill out the documentation. After a minute of frantic typing and asking questions, he pulled a datacard out from the terminal before him and passed it to Jacen. "Go through those doors. Leave the droid behind."

"The droid comes with me," Jacen growled. "He was responsible for the assassination of eighty-seven targets in the last year alone. Do you want to be number eighty-eight?"

"The droid may pass, too," The Rodian squeaked.

"Observation: These Sith are not the Sith I remember."

"Same here, HK."

Jacen and HK-47 entered the doors and proceeded down a long reception hall where five malicious-looking humanoids sat patiently at a long table. Before each was a unique object, though Jacen was not sure what they were at first glance.

"Droids and blasters are not worthy among the Sith," The angry man in the middle of the table said in one of the most pretentious voices Jacen had heard since he had met Shimmra. "Send it away."

Jacen wordlessly handed the Aratech blaster to HK-47, who used it to shoot that Sith Lord between the eyes, sending the body soaring backward off the chair with the powerful blast.

"How worthy is he now?" Jacen demanded of the uneasy remaining Sith as he approached. "Together my droid and I have killed more Jedi than you four combined. We just want to do it as Sith now."

"The Sith use the Force," the next Sith to the right of the deceased one spoke up. "You must prove your ability to be one of us. Lift this object with your mind."

The Sith pointed to a ball that was sitting before his dead associate. Feigning a few failed attempts, Jacen shakily lifted the ball off the table.

"Very good."

A flame appeared before the Sith that had spoken. "Now make the flame taller."

Again, after a few faked failures, Jacen doubled the size of the flame and smiled.

The next one had a pile of sand he wanted arranged into a cylinder, followed by one wanting a small animal to be made to cower in fear, and the last test was to snuff a flame out.

"I suppose you will do," The Sith said. "I am Lord Krashna. You will leave your droid and wait in the room to your right. Your training will begin shortly. As you gain prestige, you will have the opportunity to become an Enforcer. If you gain enough prestige, you will become one of us Sith Lords."

"I'm keeping the droid," Jacen said.

"You do not have enough prestige to make demands of us!" Lord Krashna shouted, rising to his height.

"How much 'prestige' did I gain by doing your little tricks here," Jacen sneered.

"Very little, _child_."

"Not even by doing them all at the same time?"

Krashna took another look at the five tests, and noticed that his flame was still twice its original height, the sand cylinder was still standing, the ball was levitated, and the animal was cowering.

Krashna glanced at his dead associate and back at Jacen. "You may keep your droid, so long as it wears a restraining bolt."

* * *

><p>The designated waiting room had five occupants inside when Jacen and HK-47 had entered. Two scrappy male human teenagers in well-worn clothing sat in a corner muttering to each other, a girl about twenty sneered at him and went back to sharpening a vicious dagger, and the other two occupants, a Trandoshan and a Weequay, paced restlessly.<p>

Not feeling particularly warmed by any of their glances, Jacen and HK-47 proceeded to the corner furthest from everyone, as difficult as that was.

"Master, I believe these meatbags are a rather unsavoury lot," HK-47 said in a low voice, calculated to prevent too large a volume area from hearing it. "May I do you the favour of blasting them out of their pitiful existences?"

"Not yet, HK," Jacen whispered. "But stay alert. I have a bad feeling about this situation."

"Statement: Sensors at maximum alert, master."

Another hour crawled by slowly. As three more hopefuls entered the room, a headache began to creep up on Jacen as if warning him of an impending danger. One of the hopefuls was a scantily-clad female Twi'lek about Jacen's age who immediately took up company with the two teenagers in the corner and flirted obnoxiously with them. The next was a nervous Sullustian who sat as far away from anyone as he could and glanced at everyone suspiciously while muttering to himself, and the last was a quiet Cerean who waited by the door as if he knew he would not be there long.

"We are ready to begin your training," A voice boomed from nowhere, startling almost everyone. The Trandoshan and Weequay stopped pacing, and everyone looked in a general up direction toward where they suspected the voice to come from. "You have all been pre-selected for the next phase of training, however, we only have one opening."

A single sword fell from the ceiling and clattered to the middle of the floor.

"Let the tryouts begin."

"Exclamation: Oh, joy, meatbag blasting time!"

"Stand down, HK," Jacen ordered, and grabbed the lunging arm of the girl with the knife as she tried to insert her knife blade into his kidney. He used his elbow to snap her elbow and followed with a blow to the back of her skull, knocking her out. He took the knife from her hand and assessed the situation in the room. One of the two male teenagers was fighting over the sword with the Twi'lek and the other was bleeding out from a deep scratch on his neck. The Sullustian was being strangled by the Cerean while the Trandoshan punched the Weequay's head repeatedly, collapsing it and splattering blood and brains across the wall.

"Are you sure, master?"

Jacen did not bother to answer. He had a fight to win, and could not use the Force to do it. He ran toward the Cerean and jump kicked it on the side of its tall head, sending it stumbling toward the bleeding teenager in the corner. The Sullustian was already dead, its large black eyes staring blankly to the ceiling. Jacen barely dodged the awkward slash of the contested sword as the Trandoshan joined the struggle for it, and the blade plunged into the chest of the Sullustian. Deciding to attack the problem rather than the weapon, the Trandoshan began to punch his way toward the teenager and Twi'lek, allowing Jacen to extract the sword from the Sullustian. The Trandoshan yanked the arm off the teenager and beat the befuddled young man with it, and proceeded to attack the Twi'lek, slashing at her with his claws. She barely missed his clawed attack, stumbling back against the trapped Cerean behind her. The Trandoshan's claws caught her scant outfit and ripped it off before he followed with a deep slash to her face. The Cerean, trapped against the wall behind the Twi'lek, used her as a shield and pushed her screaming toward the Trandoshan. Jacen took the moment of distraction to slam the blade up to its hilt in the back of the Trandoshan, and the tip of the blade also caught the Twi'lek in the throat. Both Twi'lek and Trandoshan fell together in their death throws, leaving Jacen and the Cerean last standing.

The Cerean lunged toward Jacen, but a blaster bolt caught him between the eyes, twisting him to the floor as dead as the others.

"Error: I believe my trigger finger became itchy, Master. Heh. Heh. Heh."

"Well done, Jenos," Lord Krashna's voice boomed on the speakers. "You have won the try-out, and will now be transferred to Sithtopia. Please proceed to the hanger bay immediately."

A door that Jacen had not noticed before opened beside the body of the still-bleeding teenager in the corner.

"After you, my good droid," Jacen offered, and followed HK-47 toward the hanger bay.


	11. Jedi Outcast

**Jedi Outcast**

Preliminary Sith Enforcer training consisted of long days of Force and physical exercises, indoctrination, and basic education at the Sith Temple atop the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Sithtopia, formerly Coruscant. Having grown up in a privileged family on Coruscant, surprisingly not far from the Sith Temple, Jacen breezed through the basic education despite his omnipresent headache that had not gone away since he had finished the tryout examination. To hide his true heritage, he claimed to be an escapee from the Corellian sector looking to expand on using his gift. His knowledge as a Jedi and his physical shape allowed him to surprise all of his instructors with the speed at which he "learned" the ways of the Force, even though he did his best to appear as if he was struggling through the basics at first. Resentment and suspicion grew around Jacen as he quickly gained prestige in the eyes of his instructors and avoided the other Enforcer candidates as best as he could. He was regarded as an outcast among the trainees, and that suited him just fine.

HK-47 spent most of his time in Jacen's quarters, moaning and complaining about being locked up. The instructors did not like HK-47's presence, but they tolerated a prized student possessing a droid so long as they did not have to see it. On one occasion, some of Jacen's rival Enforcer students decided to steal HK-47 and scatter his parts across the temple for Jacen to find. The mess that HK-47 made of those students took five days to clean, and even then Jacen still found a chunk of brain under his bed one morning as he searched for his boots.

After two weeks of training, Jacen had gathered enough prestige to graduate as a full-fledged Enforcer of the Sith, and had done so faster than any previous student. His instructors had called him "gifted."

Jacen considered himself "lucky" to have gotten that far without being figured out. The normal length of the program was two months.

During his training, Jacen let his hair and beard grow out as a disguise, even going so far to accelerate the growth rate using the Force. His unkempt hair fell wildly to his shoulders, and a full beard filled his face to make him look like a wild animal of a human. To accompany this look, Jacen attacked his training as a wild animal would, aggressively finishing every exercise as quickly as he could while still giving himself time to "learn" how to execute the techniques properly. Thankfully the Enforcer candidates were trained to work in teams rather than seeing each other as threats or rivals, so the blood bath the potential Enforcers were initiated through had yet to be repeated.

At his graduation ceremony, he waited patiently at the end of a line of twenty students who were all becoming Enforcers of the Sith that day at the front of a small gathering space. Behind the row of twenty graduates, HK-47 stood with a collection of about ten Sith Lords, making small talk about their kills and successes in the field of battle while waiting for the ceremony to begin. If Jacen was hearing things correctly, HK-47 was making quite the impression among the Sith Lords.

"Love?" Jacen heard HK-47's distinctive voice say. "Definition: Love is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometres away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. For me, love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticle, and together, achieving a singular purpose, against statistically long odds.

"Query: What do you believe love is?"

HK-47's question went unanswered as the crowd went silent. A procession of five Sith Lords walked onto the stage before the twenty Enforcers, led by an aged and angry Bothan. The Bothan stopped in the middle of the stage and the other four settled with two on either side of him.

"I am Darth Masakra," the Bothan announced. "It is my Empire you have joined. It is _me_ you serve. The role of the Enforcer is vital among the Sith Empire. Our military must be overseen. Our military must be controlled. Without control, they may decide we are unworthy to lead them. We will prove to them _we are worthy!_

"Trust in your training. Trust in your Lord. Be ever vigilant. The Sith control the galaxy, and the Jedi are all but extinct. If you find a Jedi, your Lord will kill it and you will be rewarded. Show yourself worthy, and you may become a Lord of the Sith."

Masakra stepped down the three-tier stage and walked up to the Enforcer at the far end of the line from Jacen and paced toward him.

"I'm sure you have all heard the stories of the Jedi, the weak, spineless beings who once ruled the galaxy. The great Lord Sidious had once almost destroyed the Jedi and ruled for twenty golden years, but his accomplishment is a mere shadow compared to our glory. For _sixty years_ we have ruled, not even once slowed by the pitiful Jedi forces. Their greatest fled. Their wisest hid. The rest _died_ at our hands."

Jacen could sense a mixture of fear and pride wafting from his fellow graduates, so he let himself exude the same feelings to blend in. As Masakra approached, the other graduates heartbeats raced but they stared adamantly forward as if the imposing presence of the Bothan Sith Lord had dared them to flinch or even try to look at him.

"But one among you," Masakra sneered. "Would not have us succeed. You would have the Jedi succeed, and bring chaos back to the galaxy. There is a traitor among us..."

Masakra reached Jacen and stared him in the eye, but he did not flinch. He merely stared forward, heart thumping madly in his chest while trying to elude as much fear as possible and mix it with a fierce pride about his accomplishment. Here he was, unarmed, surrounded by almost fifty Sith being labelled as a traitor by the Bothan who had all but destroyed the galaxy Jacen once held dear...

"...but you do not realize it yet." Masakra paced back toward the other end of the line. "One of you will see someone in need, and your weak heart will be moved. Your resolve will fail, and you will fail the Sith. On that day, you _will_ die."

Masakra reached the middle of the line and climbed the stairs again, signalling the four Sith Lords on the dais to step forward.

"You will now receive your lightfoil, the blade of a Sith Enforcer," Masakra said. A Sith Lord handed the short hilt to Jacen, and proceeded to hand one to the next four Enforcers in line. "You will each be assigned to a Sith Lord who will train you to use it. Use it with pride, and use it well."

* * *

><p>Jacen saw the Enforcers for what they really were – disciplined thugs used to keep the army in line and express the will of the Sith Empire without having too many Sith Lords to challenge the leadership. They were scooped up among the dregs of society and given a marginal education and a sense of purpose to inspire loyalty to the Sith Lords and to one another. He knew that very few Enforcers would become Sith Lords – their skill, intelligence, and control over the Force would never permit it. Jacen even saw the lightfoil as another indication of the Enforcer's relatively unimportant role within the Sith Empire: It was an inferior weapon with design flaws that would not stand up long to a real lightsaber. Which is exactly why he modified his as soon as he could.<p>

Most of the Enforcers did not see things the same way Jacen did. To them, becoming a Sith Enforcer was the start of a new life. Beyond that, they were given a life of relative luxury, power over others, and the distant hope of becoming a Sith Lord. The black leather uniforms with a crest of two red lightsabers crossed over a silver E were a symbol of status, and the lightfoil was a symbol of power. To Jacen, they were a mere signpost on the long road leading him to his goals.

HK-47's natural charm and sadistic nature had won him friends among the Sith Lords, especially with Jacen's master, a bloodthirsty Ryn named Lord Craetic. Many times in their off hours, Craetic would borrow HK-47 to talk to about their past battles killing Jedi. Jacen encouraged HK-47 to participate in Craetic's "dismal" chats to gather as much information about current Sith operations as he could. During training hours in which Jacen learned the ways of the lightfoil and 'advanced' Force usage, HK-47 was sent away to gather parts and tools to upgrade the lightfoil and make reports back to Encari through a secure contact point she provided. The discovery of a cloaking field generator as one of HK-47's new body's functions made sneaking around significantly easier, all but eliminating the threat of the assassin droid being followed by the Sith.

The lightfoil itself was a notable challenge for Jacen. With a lightsaber, the hilt was traditionally held with a closed fist with one or both hands. A lightfoil, however, was held with the index finger and thumb of the right hand, with the pommel resting on his wrist and the other fingers gently holding it against the heel of the thumb. Techniques for using the lightfoil were largely derived from makawshi techniques, the second form of lightsaber combat, which focused combat between two blade-wielding opponents. Precise techniques and complex footwork characterized lightfoil battles in a way the Jedi had not fought in centuries.

Or, at least the proper way of handling it called for such techniques. Whether through ineptitude or impatience, most Enforcers close-fisted the hilt and used the blade like a club, citing the unique way of holding the blade as being too fragile and useless in a fight.

Among his peers, Jacen alone recognized the complexities of the weapon and stumbled through the learning curve with real difficulty opposed to the feigned difficulties he had imitated in the previous level of training. Craetic quickly became impressed with Jacen's growing skills and spent most of the lessons finessing Jacen's techniques while letting the others beat on each other with their glowing clubs. Having had an affinity with lightsabers from a very young age and advanced training from Yoda and Mace Windu, Jacen quickly adapted his considerable experience with lightsabers to include wielding the lightfoil. Before long he was disarming his classmates with the new techniques he picked up despite their brute force methodology, and was earning the praise of Lord Craetic. Along with his praise from above, Jacen gathered more resentment from below. The Enforcers saw him as an overachiever that was trying to make them all look bad for his own personal gain rather than conforming to the principles of brotherhood that were impressed upon the Enforcers throughout their training.

When Jacen was not learning the ways of the lightfoil he mostly spent time alone. The Enforcers were actively encouraged to spend time together and become "Brothers and Sisters of the One Sith Empire," but Jacen found little in common with the other Enforcers to inspire him to mingle for very long. Most spoke about how bad their lives were before they joined the Sith or about relatively insignificant accomplishments they achieved, and Jacen found he could only make up so much misery about his life before he got bored of it. He could hardly tell them that he grew up as the privileged son of the Chief of State and a former smuggler, that his uncle was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, that his wife was the Queen of Hapes, and that he had helped orchestrate the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war, derailed Soora Bulq's plans for galactic domination, and took part in the downfall of the Diversity Alliance long before any of them had been born. Instead, he told the others he was just happy to be in the Sith family and did not want to dwell on the past, so he spent much of his free time tinkering with his lightfoil to improve the strength of the beam and the internal structure to better withstand impacts against lightsabers. Using HK-47 and his own lightsabers that remained hidden in HK-47's leg compartments, Jacen tested the foil until he was happy with the modifications. There was one final modification that Jacen wanted to make, but it was the one he knew he could not. He did, however, test the new emerald HK-47 had procured for him and designed the hilt to easily swap out the fake Sith crystal so he could change the Sith red blade to a Jedi Master green blade. His only concern with the emerald was its artificial creation, so he spent hours upon hours compressing and strengthening the internal structure with the Force to ensure it would stand up to the rigours of life inside a lightsaber or lightfoil.

* * *

><p>Several weeks into his training as an Enforcer during Jacen's "advanced class" on lightning, a pair of Sith that Jacen had never seen before in robes indicating Lordship arrived and took him outside of the class for a walk along the outer balcony about half way up the Sith Temple – the highest point he had yet been permitted to visit.<p>

Silent until they arrived on the balcony, the Quarren male was the first to speak while the female Iridonian remained quiet.

"Enforcer Jenos, my name is Lord Norod. She is Lord Jal'nok. We have learned from Lord Craetic that you are not welcome among your peers, but your skill is great."

"My peers are weak." Jacen leaned against the railing, looking out across the unfamiliar cityscape of Sithtopia. "You treat them like dogs, training them for obedience and servitude. You train them to bite when necessary, and to cower when you approach. Enforcers are little more than marginally gifted slaves doing your dirty work to keep the masses in line. I see that there is much more to being a Sith than they could ever want."

"You have ambition unfitting for an Enforcer," Jal'nok said. "Do you believe yourself fitting to be a Lord of the Sith?"

"And if I do?" Jacen asked bravely, turning and looking at the Lords. "Would the Empire of the Sith deny one of its members from finding their potential within?"

Jacen's lightfoil hilt sprang from his belt to the hand of Lord Norod, and the Quarren examined the hilt.

"You have modified your weapon." He twisted the handle, exposing the crystal with the door Jacen had installed. "Were you looking to replace your focusing gem?"

"I heard from some of the other students stories of the gems failing in battle," Jacen said, already having his excuse ready. "I wanted to make it easier to replace if that unfortunate situation occurred to me."

"Such forethought is uncommon among Enforcers," Jal'nok said approvingly.

Narod ignited the lightfoil and examined the energy flow before handing it back to Jacen.

"You have also enhanced the power output and narrowed the blade," Narod said.

"It creates a stronger blade, but it will cut through the air faster," Jacen explained.

"It also makes deflecting blaster fire more difficult."

"You can do that?" Jacen asked, feigning surprise and eager anticipation. "Deflect blaster fire, I mean."

"Yes." Jal'nok smiled. "You have impressed us with your appetite, Enforcer Jenos. Report to level one-hundred tomorrow morning with your possessions. We will test your worth as a Sith Lord."

* * *

><p>Even after a two month period of training with the Sith as an Enforcer, Jacen found he had accumulated almost nothing. He packed up his room fairly quickly with only a spare Enforcer uniform, the clothes he arrived with, the knife he took off the girl during his initiation, and the tools and spare parts that HK-47 had purchased for him to stuff into a bag. HK-47, however, had accumulated much more on his trips outside the Sith Temple. Remains of the blasters, grenade launchers, memory cores, shielding modules and upgraded durasteel armour plates modified for use in HK-47's body had been scattered across Jacen's room. It took the two of them the better part of the evening to gather the parts up and stuff them in a pair of tote bags. When Jacen had tried to throw the remains out, HK-47 scolded him for being a wasteful master and said he had plans for the parts.<p>

Level one hundred struck Jacen as a monument to the arrogance of the Sith Lords more than a means of impressing first time arrivals, as he was sure it was intended. The curved high vaulted ceiling was painted black with curved golden pillars that looked like a giant animal's claws as accents, stretching from the ground up along the curved wall to the giant glass windows overlooking the cityscape. Between the pillars were ten metre tall statues of various Sith Lords that must have had a significant role in the creation of the new empire.

_Nowhere but in an insane world would someone make a statue of Sekava,_ Jacen thought as he and HK—47 approached a door beneath the crossed lightsaber blades held by the statues of Sekava and Masakra. Rather than use carved stone or metal rods to depict lightsaber blades, the statues held massive operational lightsabers with glowing blood-red blades humming like a nest of angry pirhana beetles. Based on the size of the weapons, Jacen figured the focusing crystals each had to be about the size of his head.

The door itself was a tribute to arrogance in its own right. Nearly seven metres high, it was a massive slab of obsidian rock with the opening shaped around it. Without a handle on it, only a Force user could open the heavy door.

"Get the door, droid," Jacen told HK-47.

Having come to the same conclusion about the door as Jacen, HK-47 stared at it.

"Observation: It appears that this slab of rock is not designed to move. Shall I blast it, master?"

"I have to do everything myself," Jacen remarked. He put a hand out toward the door and closed his eyes. This was obviously a test of skill to see how adept he would be at telekinesis, so he pretended to struggle as best he could. The door was exceedingly heavy, but not that difficult to move. For good show, he made a face that he hoped looked sufficiently strenuous.

"Query: Master, are you having an untimely bowel movement that is causing stress to your face?"

Trying his very best not to laugh, Jacen pushed the door open the final bit and scolded the droid for his comment, as any Sith would. They proceeded into the dark hallway beyond the door, their footsteps echoing throughout the expansive dark chamber which seemed to absorb any light and enhance any sound. Jacen could sense someone using the Force to close the door behind him. For the sake of theatrics he jumped, as he was sure they expected him to. With the door shut, Jacen was left in complete darkness. Only HK-47's photoreceptors shed some light, but did not cast it far. Jacen lit his lightfoil, but the light from it, too, did not travel far.

"Master, I am de..."

"Not now, droid," Jacen said. This was obviously a test and HK-47 was seeing through some aspect of it with his advanced sensor package. "Hello? Anyone here? Show yourself!"

"Enforcer Jenos Indanian," A deep voice thundered through the room as if it came from every direction at once. "You have been deemed worthy of being tested to become a Sith Lord. You must pass the trials of membership to show your devotion to the Force and the Dark Side. Any failure will be your last."

A beam of red light to Jacen's right appeared from the ceiling, illuminating a short pillar.

"Wait here," Jacen ordered HK-47.

Jacen approached the pillar cautiously, lightfoil before him and danger sense tingling.

"Let your passion guide you and bring you strength," the voice boomed again.

In the dim red light, Jacen had a hard time picking out anything atop the pillar. A flash of red light nearly caught Jacen on the right shoulder, but he spun away and brought the lightfoil into the guard position. The lightsaber lunged at him again and again, but he parried it and danced out of its way, trying his best not to control the fight but also not make it appear too easy a test. After a few moments of acted frantic fighting, Jacen let himself became angrier and more aggressive. As quickly as it appeared, the lightsaber and the red light disappeared, replaced by another pillar of red light at on the opposite side of HK-47 and his floating red optical sensors. Jacen could sense Sith Lords moving around in the shadows, but he pretended he had no idea they were there.

Atop this pillar was a cube of solid durasteel. Jacen could sense the other Sith Lords concentrating on it, but examined the cube curiously.

"Lift the cube to show your strength, and power will be yours."

_The Sith Code_, Jacen thought. _That's what they're drawing from._

He replaced his lightfoil on his belt and grabbed the cube with both hands, but, naturally, he could not move it. It would require the Force.

It did not take Jacen long to lift the cube, letting himself draw upon his elevated anger from the previous test and inability to move it to lend him strength. The Sith Lords were not trying to prevent him from move it, only make it difficult. When he raised it about a metre, the cube was yanked away and the light disappeared. Another beam of light appeared, illuminating a third pillar at the front of the room, opposite the heavy obsidian door.

_If I'm right, they'll test me on power to gain victory,_ Jacen thought as he removed his lightfoil from his belt for good measure_. _He approached the third pillar, but the pillar was not made of stone. It was a blind-folded and gagged girl, quivering with fright.

"Use your power to shed the blood of a Jedi and bring victory to your name."

Jacen did not hesitate. He unleashed a torrent of electricity at the girl, blasting her backward off her feet about three metres where she fell to the ground, limp.

"The Force will set you free," the voice boomed one last time.

Harsh white lights came on, virtually blinding Jacen in the process, but he sensed no more danger. The Sith Lords approached him as he let his eyes adjust naturally to the light. The room he was in was circular with golden clawed pillars reaching up to a point in the middle from the black walls. The floor was more black obsidian, and before Jacen was a five-tiered dais with a large ornate chair filled with an ancient fierce-looking Bothan.

"Welcome to the Brotherhood of the Sith Lords, Brother Jenos." Lord Masakra stood from his chair and approached Jacen. One of the other Sith Lords put a robe around Jacen's shoulders and Masakra himself fastened the clasp at his neck. "You have impressed me with this trial. None before you have used lightning to kill the whelp. I foresee great things from you."

"Thank you, my Lord." Jacen bowed his head. "I am eager to serve."

"You keep a droid with you." Masakra eyed HK-47 standing in the middle of the room by himself. "Why?"

"HK-47 has experience killing Jedi," Jacen replied. "I have learned much from him, and we fight well together. Our strengths will complement each other in your service."

"A protocol droid experienced in killing Jedi?" Masakra asked.

"He is no protocol droid, Lord Masakra," Jacen elaborated. "His assassination programming is far more extensive than his knowledge of language and protocol. He has served me loyally, and will help the Sith Empire at my side. I am sure of it."

"You may keep your droid for now," Masakra said. "It must prove its worth, as you have. Give me your hand."

Jacen put his right hand out and Masakra unhooked a simplistically-designed hilt of a lightsaber from his belt.

"This is the symbol of a Sith Lord," Masakra said, holding the hilt before Jacen. "Each Lord of the Sith modifies it to be his own. Use our extensive libraries to research the history of the Sith to aid you in discovering what designs suit you best."

The cool hilt was pressed into Jacen's hand, sending a shiver down his spine.

"When you are ready, you will be given the name befitting you," Masakra explained. "Study, train, and grow within the Force, brother."

Masakra and the other Sith departed, save Lord Craetic who gave his personal congratulations to Jacen. He asked Jacen to dispose of the girl's body before giving him directions to his new quarters. Jacen ordered HK-47 to bring their belongings up to the room while he disposed of the body in the sub levels of the city. After reviving the girl and ensuring she was safely away with no memory of being captured as a sacrifice for the Sith, and ensuring she had a strong desire to get off planet as quickly as possible, Jacen returned half an hour later to a lavish suite with a sitting area to display trophies and train in private. Jacen and HK-47 together explored their new room and amenities. Surprisingly, they found no surveillance equipment, only pure luxury. Jacen decided it was time to trim his hair, so he reduced it to shoulder height and trimmed his beard back to a point where it would not interfere with eating or drinking. After a hot shower he found several sets of fresh robes in the closet which were hardly different from Jedi robes except for the emphasis on black. Without much left to do, and not wanting to appear too eager to get to the library, Jacen examined his new lightsaber and started making a few modifications, fine tuning the blade performance and energy consumption. Several hours later, after a hearty meal among the other Sith Lords on Sithtopia that still did not abate his headache, Jacen proceeded to the library to brush up on his future.


	12. I'm Batman!

AN: Again...titles are not meant to be taken as in-universe ;)

* * *

><p><strong>I'm Batman!<strong>

The Sith Library was four levels above Jacen's quarters and consisted of a massive computer core surrounded by three levels of computer terminals. There were no guardians of the information, no passwords required to get in, only about a dozen other Sith Lords accessing it at any given time.

_I'm glad I didn't try to sneak into this place._

Jacen proceeded to the third level, mostly to avoid everyone else and ensure some measure of privacy, but he learned that privacy would not be an issue upon arriving at the terminal. Each computer terminal was within a comfortable private booth that included food and drink dispensers. These Sith Lords were encouraged to study as much as they could to create a smarter breed of tyrant controlling the galaxy.

Jacen immediately started pulling up schematics and designs of lightsaber hilts while running a parallel search looking into the history of the new generation of Sith. He was able to track down a timeline giving a rough progression over the last hundred and ten years, but it did not provide him the detail he required. He downloaded it to his datapad anyway, and continued the search. After several hours, Jacen retired to his room and went to sleep. The next morning he returned to the library immediately after morning meal and picked up the search where he left off, scouring the database for information that might lead him to Sekava. The hardest part of the search was that Sekava's name was never mentioned. The crazy dark man was merely referred to as "The First," a word search that only returned about a billion occurrences. After a quick lunch in the booth, Jacen finally found a hint of what he was seeking. One article made mention of the private journals of the Five First Lords, those trained specifically by Sekava. Jacen spent the next four hours searching for and downloading those journals, but he could find nothing of Masakra's own journal.

Deciding he had spent enough time staring at a data terminal, Jacen went down to the workshop to gather some parts and tools to modify his new lightsaber and returned to his room. While he worked on modifying his lightsaber with the theme of a Vornskr, namely one specific Vornskr, he had HK-47 go through the data he had collected. Given the vast amount of data, HK-47 was still processing it all when Jacen woke up the next morning, and it was not until after morning meal that HK-47 finally found what Jacen was looking for.

"R-r-r-report: It appears that meatbag Sekava attacks the little blonde meatbag and her meatcan compatriots in the city of Orshan on the planet Bimmisaari." HK-47 continued his report, indicating the time and date, as well as the street corner where they laid the failed ambush. After that, the report continued to locate when and where each Sith Lord that Sekava had recruited was from, except for Masakra. It also gave their names, occupations, and in some cases, the names of spouses and children. HK-47 gave Jacen the detailed report, as well as the raw data, back on a datacard which he stored in his sock against his leg.

"HK, it is time we get out of here," Jacen said. "The Force is calling me back to my time, but I need to do a few things first."

"Query: What would that be, master?"

"I need to get you out of here," Jacen said. "You need to return to Encari, Shadow, and Smoke with all the information I gave you. Give it to the Jedi. It might be useful."

"Resignation: If you insist, master," HK-47 drawled. "I will miss you, master."

"I'll miss you too, Womprat," Jacen said. "Get going. If anyone stops you, tell them you're going to buy grenades or something for an upgrade. I'll make sure the Sith are sufficiently distracted."

HK-47 held out a hand, and Jacen shook it.

"Good bye, master," HK-47 said. "Acknowledgement: As you will always be one of my favourite masters, I have a gift for you. It will unlock the depths of my memory banks: Revan."

"Revan?"

"My maker," HK-47 said with reverence. "A Sith Lord that would make these cowardly meatbags soil their undergarments with a mere glance."

HK-47 extracted Jacen's lightsabers from his leg compartments and handed them to his master before leaving without another word. Jacen ignited his blades and spun them around him, testing their feel.

After weeks of wielding Sith blades, it felt good to be a Jedi again.

* * *

><p>At the top of the Sith Temple the lift doors opened to reveal a hallway adorned with statues of Sith Lords crossing real lightsabers over the walkway, creating a canopy of red light honouring the person who walked beneath. Jacen walked down the statues, counting ten on each side, and the doors at the end opened for him. He proceeded into a lavish round antechamber with an elevating platform in the middle surrounded by cushions for people to wait on.<p>

Jacen was not in a waiting mood so he stepped onto the platform and used the Force to lift it toward the ceiling. As he approached the ceiling, the section above him irised open just long enough for the platform to pass through and closed, allowing Jacen to settle it back down. He stepped off the platform and walked toward a large entertainment area with long couches, bars, and hologram projectors. Floor to ceiling windows overlooked the Coruscant cityscape with perhaps the most impressive view Jacen had ever seen.

A purple lightsaber snapped to life off to Jacen's left.

"Who dares intrude on my sanctuary?" Masakra demanded. "Brother Jenos. What are you doing here?"

"I want answers," Jacen said. "Where and when did you meet Sekava?"

"Sekava?" Masakra demanded, flicking his blade madly. "_How do you know that name?_"

"Answer my question," Jacen said. He pressed deep into Masakra's mind with his own trying to force an answer out of the Bothan.

"We met on Bothawai on...stop it!" Masakra charged toward Jacen and made a wild slash at his head. Jacen used his Sith lightsaber and deflected it easily, side-stepping and kicking Masakra's butt as he passed. The old Bothan crashed into a table before recovering, and Jacen put the lightsaber away.

"I underestimated you, Jenos," Masakra said, circling carefully. "You have real power."

"I'm going to give you the opportunity to end this peacefully," Jacen said as reasonably as he could despite the increasingly painful headache that threatened to split his head in half. "Surrender the Sith Empire to the Jedi and help dismantle the Sith. End this, and the Jedi will be lenient on you."

"Jedi?" Masakra laughed. "The Jedi are powerless! They are pacifists that lie down and die before the Sith!"

"Not this Jedi," Jacen said darkly. His two lightsabers flashed to his hands and the green and yellow blades ignited. "Last chance to surrender."

"A Jedi with spirit! It has been _decades_! I shall enjoy this fight."

Masakra pulled his second lightsaber from his belt and ignited the yellow blade. Both opponents circled to gauge the other. Jacen shifted more weight to his front leg in anticipation and a couple heatbeats later Masakra lunged at him with one blade. Jacen side stepped the lunge and slashed toward Masakra's head. They traded blows of increasing speed and strength, catching slashes and jabs with both blades while trying to find an opening. Jacen ramped up the intensity of his attack, switching from Makashi to Djem So. He Force-shoved the Bothan backward, jumped off the nearest bar and somersaulted through the air with a powerful double slash toward the Bothan's head. Masakra's blade collapsed under Jacen's attack, lopping off an ear, but the Sith Lord got his other blade up in time to graze Jacen's rib cage. He twisted away, using his two blades to guide Masakra's blades away from himself as he gathered some distance.

"You know more than one form, Jedi," Masakra said approvingly. "Tell me, were you trained by that troublesome Eriana who has been a thorn in my side for decades? Or did you escape Zonama Sekot? Ah, yes, I know about Sekot. We have found her, and we will destroy the Jedi and take her for ourselves."

Jacen gathered his fury. He spun his blades in a figure-eight, the ready stance of Vaapad.

Jacen launched himself forward in a blur, attacking and slashing at Masakra with the brutal efficiency only Vaapad had to offer. The love he held for his family, for Tenel Ka, for Eriana, and for the hope the galaxy would have without the Sith menace sustained him and drove him forward. He poured his heart and soul into the battle, letting the ferocity within and the lust for victory speed his arms, quicken his steps, and deliver an unpredictable onslaught of fast, powerful staccato slashes meant to overwhelm the old Bothan without fear of failure. The risk of Vaapad, so heavily dependent on the enjoyment of battle, was falling to darkness. Mace Windu had warned Jacen when he began teaching him and Eriana that to use Vaapad without a sense of justice, without a purpose to serve others, or to fear what it was capable of, it would corrupt, consume, and destroy from within.

Masakra fought back with Juyo, the incomplete seventh form of lightsaber combat. Favoured by many Sith Lords in ages past, the techniques of Juyo closely mirrored those of Vaapad down to the speed and ferocity of movement. Masakra and Jacen became an intertwined ball of purple, green and yellow light, channelling their rage at each other. For every slash there was a block, for every thrust there was a parry, and for every feint there was no reaction. Fighting became effortless as the two moved with the fluidity and grace of two well-choreographed dancers and the speed of the deadliest predators.

Masakra disengaged and jumped clear of Jacen's blades, landing on the bar several metres behind.

"Vaapad," Masakra acknowledged. "I _am_ impressed. I have not had such a battle since I faced off with Eriana herself. Vaapad has been a closely guarded secret of Eriana's for decades. I have never been able to capture a Jedi to learn it from. Tell me, if Eriana did not teach you, who did?"

"The inventor, Mace Windu," Jacen said. Seeing no recognition on Masakra's face, he put his lightsabers away again. "He taught two people his secrets: Eriana and me. Together we mastered it. Now tell me where Sekot is."

"What…_who_ are you?" Masakra demanded. Jacen could sense the fear emanating from the Sith Lord.

Jacen regarded Masakra with a vicious smile, drawing inspiration from the person he once asked that same question. Lightning crackled from his palms, up his arms, and across his body.

"I am Jacen. What are you?"

* * *

><p>The thing about Vaapad is that it was not merely a lightsaber fighting style. Juyo was said to be incomplete, not because the techniques were imperfect, but because it was prone to opening the user's heart to darkness without providing a way to control it properly. Fear of the complexity of the form, using the form with a lust for power, or seeking to dominate for personal gain quickly corrupted or confused the user of Juyo and made them prone to error. The invention of Vaapad corrected this deficiency, providing a light side user with the mindset to master the complexities of the techniques without succumbing to the darkness within their hearts. A dark side user could not successfully use Vaapad since it was inherently a method of control, which dark side users do not believe in. Dark siders <em>depended<em> on fear as a weapon and were therefore subject to fear's influence.

Mace Windu held that Vaapad could be used in hand-to-hand combat or really with any weapon where precognition, speed, and perfect technique were needed.

Thanks to Vergere, Jacen took it one step further.

Vergere held that there was no Dark Side of the Force; that any darkness was within the user, not the Force. Using emotion to augment the usage of the Force could bring greatness to do just about anything, but required a level of control, devotion, and purity of heart.

In other words, Jacen took Vaapad and made the Force his weapon of choice.

Mixing lightning, telekinesis and mind control, Jacen launched charged objects, devastating arcs of energy and fear-inducing visions at Lord Masakra. The Bothan's defence against the visions was considerable and he used his lightsabers to block the objects and lightning, forcing Jacen to focus on the arc of energy between them. Rather than throwing energy at Masakra, Jacen switched it up. He used the arc to _pull_ energy out of the lightsabers. He gathered the power around him, sucking the life out of the lightsabers as they faded, creating a swirling suit of electrical armour around him.

Masakra stared dumbfounded at the dead lightsaber hilts in his hand. Jacen ripped into the old Sith's mind and an arc of pain lanced through his head. Staggered by the sheer disorientation caused by the pain, Jacen lost control of the energy surrounding him. Streams of electro-telekinetic energy lanced away from Jacen, electrocuting both him and everything around him. A blast of energy hit Masakra, launching him through a window with pure energy coursing across his body.

* * *

><p>Jacen woke some time later and put a palm to his head. He was still breathing heavily and his head was <em>throbbing<em>. The acrid smell of smoke invaded his nostrils and his muscles twitched from the residual effect of the electricity that had coursed through his body. He shook his head slightly, which only brought on more waves of pain far beyond what had afflicted him for the past couple months. Somehow he had ended up on the ground unconscious. He pulled himself standing against a chair and held onto it to steady himself. Looking back at the ground, there was a puddle of blood where his head had been and he realized that warm blood was trickling from his nose. He pinched his nose and staggered his way to a sink where he tended the nose bleed as he slowly recovered. He tentatively used the Force to ease his headache, worried that there might be a problem with his connection to the Force, but his headache slowly faded. After about five minutes of resting over the sink, Jacen heard voices coming from below Masakra's lair.

_Someone probably saw their leader learn how to fly._

Jacen looked around for an escape route, but he could not see anything. A quick look through Masakra's bedroom did not hint at any hidden passages or ships, but he did find Masakra's personal diary. The loud thump of the hover platform Jacen used to enter the room hitting the lower level told him he had run out of time.

_Tweet, tweet, _Jacen thought. He sprinted toward the window that Masakra's body had shattered and jumped.

* * *

><p>Encari had provided Jacen with a contact on Coruscant that she trusted, but the trick for Jacen would be getting to it without arousing suspicion. Sith Lord robes commanded a level of respect, but were also very noticeable, especially when covered with blood. People cowered as he approached, instinctively knowing to fear him from years of living under Sith rule. Jacen entered a shopping plaza and sought out the nearest clothing store, which happened to sell business suits.<p>

_Perfect_, Jacen thought. _One fast moving person in a suit won't arouse any suspicion. All I need is an ear communicator and I'll be all set._

Jacen approached the terrified shopkeeper and told him his measurements. Together they picked out a suit, and Jacen went into a change room to remove the bloodied Sith robes while the adjustments were made to his new outfit. While in the change room, Jacen swapped the artificial crystal in his lightfoil for the emerald he had been storing in the toe of his boot and removed as much of his beard and long hair as he could while trying to maintain a level of appearance. He used the wicked knife he had taken from the girl so long ago and painfully scratched off the rest of his beard, but he did not let the pain make him wince. The shopkeeper brought the suit over and Jacen dressed quickly. He also attained an overcoat with pockets large enough to conceal his lightsabers in the pockets. He paid the shopkeeper four times the value of the clothes and used a mind trick to ensure the loyalty of the shopkeeper. With his Sith robes and weapons hidden in a bag, Jacen sought out a barber to get his singed hair trimmed before setting out for Encari's contact.

* * *

><p>Jacen entered the Green Jawa bar near the spaceport, a relatively trashy place with several broken lights, holodisplays and the patronage to match. Among the spacers, entertainment, and local low-lives were several people, like Jacen, in business suits seeking to escape their hectic lives for a short time. Beyond a group of men in suits chatting up a trio of dancer girls, Jacen spotted a very familiar droid having an argument with the barkeep. Jacen cut through the crowd past the girls who tried to get a hand on him and pull him into the group of businessmen in time to hear HK-47's latest attempt at diplomacy.<p>

"Warning: I am programmed to frag any meatbags who interfere with my mission," HK-47 warned the barkeeper. "I strongly advise you to yield, meatbag."

"What are you going to do, _protocol droid_? Teach me how to set a table?"

"He's with me, sir," Jacen interrupted. "I'm sorry, he's my rather eccentric droid. My sister reprogrammed him to threaten anyone who disagrees with him. I sent him here to look for a friend of ours, Marcus Dradan."

"Quiet, kid." the barkeep hushed Jacen and looked around nervously to see if anyone overheard them. He brought his hand up to scratch his chin, showing off a black ring that momentarily flashed the symbol of the Black Vornskrs. "That's my callsign. Encari sent you, eh?"

"Yeah, we're Vornskrs," Jacen said quietly. He put his right hand on the bar, showing off the Corusca ring he had stored inside one of his lightsabers while among the Sith. Marcus barely noticed the Vornskr logo as he realized the rank of the man across the bar from him. "We need a fast ship to get off the planet."

"I can set you up with a spacer," Marcus said. "One of us. It won't cost you too much."

Jacen considered the offer. Having extracted the coordinates of Sekot from Masakra's mind, Jacen wanted to go there, but he also did not want to show up with a non-Jedi regardless of their loyalty to the Black Vornskrs. Unfortunately, his face had just appeared on a wanted listing on a holodisplay behind Marcus. The Sith were hunting him.

"Fine, quickly," Jacen said. "I need to get off this planet."

"Go to the main space port, docking bay two-ninety," Marcus said. "Look for a bunch of Wookiees and ask for one named Rocky with a black streak on his head. He'll be flying an old YT-1300 called the _Syrin Legacy_. When you talk to him, use the name Lowbacca; he'll take care of you."


	13. Old Friends, New Problems

**Old Friends, New Problems**

Docking bay two-ninety was a tense twenty minute walk from the Green Jawa bar that Jacen walked as quickly as he could without arousing suspicions. HK-47 followed Jacen under cloak, occasionally catching the front of his foot on the heel of Jacen's when Jacen walked too slowly. After a couple discrete threats to get his optical sensors recalibrated with a lightsaber, HK-47 finally kept a little more distance from his master. They arrived at the spaceport where the local militia and several Sith Lords were examining the people trying to enter the spaceport – obviously to prevent Jacen's escape. There was an outer wall with an entrance that led into the inner spaceport.

"You're a dead giveaway," Jacen muttered to HK-47. "And if I try using the Force to get you past them, they'll catch on. HK, we're going to have to do this in two stages."

"Statement: Oh, I hope you do not mean to disassemble me, master. My parts work so much better together."

"Turn off your vocabulator," Jacen ordered. "I'll lift you over the line and put you down on the far side, and I'll go through on my own. We'll meet up at docking bay two-ninety. I'll give you my bag and lightsabers so I don't have to take them through security."

"Acknowledged, master. Vocabulator deactivated."

Jacen passed the droid his two lightsabers, which disappeared into the leg compartments, and handed him the bag. It disappeared as the cloaking field stretched to encompass the bag. Jacen reached out with the Force and lifted the droid, carefully raising it high enough to clear the mob. About three quarters of the way over the gathered travellers, Jacen saw the Sith look to the sky and a shock of pain cracked through his head.

_Frak. They sense me._

Against the growing pain spidering across his head, he pushed HK-47 further up onto the roof of the building and set the droid down. The assassin droid would have to improvise. The Sith Lords were still looking around for the disturbance in the Force, and two of the four disappeared into the spaceport.

After taking a few minutes to recover, Jacen approached the line and gently eased his way through the crowd to the front with some very weak mind tricks and some charming grins. At the appropriate time, Jacen approached the security guard through a security scanner that did not detect any weapons on him.

"Travel documents and identification."

"I am looking to hire a private charter," Jacen said. As carefully as he could, he gently stretched his Force perception toward the guard and handed him a blank sheet of flimsy folded in quarters. "Here is my identification."

The guard stared at the blank sheet of flimsy for several moments, and the Sith Lord approached. Just before the Sith Lord could see it, the security guard handed the sheet of paper back to Jacen and it disappeared into his jacket.

"Thank you, sir," The guard said. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank _you_," Jacen replied with a smile. He smiled at the Sith Lord overseeing the guard, a woman under a heavy cloak, and entered the spaceport. He turned sharply upon entrance toward the private docking bays and caught sight of the female Sith following him in the corner of his eye. He increased his pace toward the private bays and walked down the moving platforms that allowed him to cover the distance much quicker. When he arrived at the entrance to the private docking bays, an overly happy Gorn female in a spaceport authority uniform greeted him and gave him directions to docking bay two-ninety through the busy corridor full of people rushing to get to their ships. A quick mind trick left the Gorn believing he was off to docking bay ninety-two, and Jacen continued his trek through the spaceport. He turned a corner and slipped into the refresher, drawing his presence as small as he could as Vergere had taught him while removing his outer coat and draping it across his arm. He made use of the facilities and took his time washing his hands before cautiously leaving the refresher behind a Rodian. Jacen tried his best to blend into the crowd while discretely keeping an eye out for the Sith Lord. He followed the flow of people to a small boutique where he purchased a fedora to better disguise his face. After about twenty minutes of walking he finally reached docking bay 290 and entered it cautiously. Inside he found three Wookiees preparing an aging, yet familiar, black YT-1300 light transport for departure. Jacen walked up to one of the Wookiees, keeping his brim down low, and asked for Captain Rocky in a deep voice. She directed him toward the boarding ramp. He boarded the ship and quickly found a pair of hairy legs sticking out of the hyperdrive maintenance trench in the floor.

"Master Rocky, I simply cannot understand this computer system!" A floating translator droid complained, floating above the engineering console with a tether connecting the two machines. "Oh, my! It appears we have a visitor."

The Wookiee extracted itself from the maintenance trench and growled a question.

"I need passage to a distant location," Jacen said, removing his hat. "And Encari will pay for it."

Lowbacca nearly stumbled backward over a tool box upon seeing Jacen's face. Jacen laughed and caught Lowie with the Force, easing the giant Wookiee back to his feet. Lowie had filled out in the time since Jacen had last seen him, growing more muscular than lanky now that he was in his prime age between one hundred and two hundred years old. Lowie grabbed Jacen in a hug and demanded how he had appeared there after so many years.

"Later, Lowie," Jacen said. "I promise it'll be a good story, but we have to get moving. I need to find Zonoma Sekot. The Sith located it and are sending a task force to wipe out the Jedi there. I just broke out of the Sith Temple and they're searching for me."

Lowie chuffed with laughter at Jacen's predicament and snatched Em-Teedee out of the air and clipped the little translating droid to his Syrin belt on his way out of the ship. Jacen replaced his hat, removed the suit jacket and followed Lowie outside. The other Wookiees, Sirrakuk, Rabbakyysh, and another male Wookiee Jacen did not recognize, were prepping the ship under Lowie's direction.

"Rocky," Jacen called, and approached Lowie. "My droid hasn't arrived here yet, has he?"

[Droid?]

"Womprat in a new body," Jacen explained. "We got separated."

A loud clank sounded several metres to Jacen's right and HK-47 decloaked.

"Announcement: I have arrived, master.

"Query: Who are the furbags?"

"On the ship, HK," Jacen ordered.

[You, too,] Lowie told Jacen. [For our safety.]

Jacen and HK-47 boarded the ship together and Jacen retrieved his lightsabers from the droid. Before Jacen could grab the bag containing his Sith robes, HK-47 extracted two lightsabers from the bag and placed them in his leg compartments.

"Where did you get those?"

"Elusive answer: Two Sith meatbags attacked me on the roof. They no longer need their lightsabers."

The male Wookiee that Jacen had not recognized entered the ship and told the two guests to get into the smuggling compartments. The Sith had found them.

* * *

><p>A while after the ship jumped into hyperspace, the hatch to the secret compartment opened and Lowie's face appeared.<p>

[The Sith Lord hired us to transport her to Tattooine,] Lowie growled softly. [I could not say no to a Sith Lord. She suspects something is wrong.]

"I understand," Jacen whispered back. "What should we do?"

[I drugged the evening meal,] Lowie explained. [But poison does not last long against Sith Lords. We must move quickly, whatever we do.]

"I have an idea," Jacen said.

Lowie lifted the hatch for Jacen to get out and closed it back down on HK-47. Jacen and Lowie quietly slipped around the corner and Lowie pointed at the Sith Lord sleeping on the couch. She already started to stir, her body resisting the sedatives Lowie had used.

Jacen crept up behind the Sith Lord and grabbed her head. He concentrated on her for a moment, then screamed in pain and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Traitor!" The Sith awoke from the scream and drew her lightsaber. "I'll have your head for this, Wookiee!"

Lowie drew his own lightsaber and ignited the club-like molten bronze blade, but he could sense something different about the Sith Lord. He yanked her lightsaber out of her hand easily and held both blades before him defensively.

"Give that back!" She demanded. She concentrated at the lightsaber, but it did not even wiggle in Lowie's paw.

Sirra appeared with a bowcaster and shot the Sith Lord, blue waves of energy encompassing the angry woman and knocking her out.

* * *

><p>Jacen woke again with a splitting headache, worse than he had from the battle with Lord Masakra. His nose had been packed with tissue to stem the bleeding and an IV was in his arm to help hydrate him from the loss of blood. He could sense Lowie's presence nearby, but it hurt to do so.<p>

"Did it work?" Jacen asked groggily.

[Yes,] Lowie said. [She cannot touch the Force. And neither can you, it seems.]

"I can _touch_ it," Jacen said. "I just can't use it. Something is wrong with me."

[Your droid gave us the coordinates to Zonoma Sekot,] Lowie said. [We will be there in ten hours. You must rest.]

"I don't know how I got here, Lowie," Jacen looked up at his friend. "I was meditating on Hapes and I woke up a hundred years in the future. I know what went wrong. I know how to fix the galaxy, but I have to get back to my time."

[How?]

"I can use the Force to go back," Jacen said. "But we have to warn Sekot first. The Sith are going to attack. And I need Sekot's help sending me back. Using the Force is killing me."

[Rest, my friend,] Lowie insisted. [We will be there soon enough.]

* * *

><p>When Jacen woke, the dull hum of the engines was no longer present and nobody was around him. He sat up, thankfully without the throbbing headache bothering him. He pulled the bloodied gauze out of his nose carefully, amazed at how much packing had been able to fit in his nasal cavity, and finally removed the IV and switched off the monitors. He drank a glass of water that had been sitting on the bedside table and ate some of the fruit – fruit native to one specific planet in the galaxy.<p>

"Greetings, Jacen Solo," Vergere spoke to Jacen. But it was not Vergere. It was a personality image of Sekot's.

"It is good to see you again, Sekot," Jacen replied. "I've missed you."

"Humans should not stay young as long as you have through normal means," Sekot said curiously. "How is it you are here after all these years?"

"Time travel," Jacen said. "I came here to warn you – the Sith know your location. They're attacking."

"I know," Sekot said with a smile. "I have learned much over the years. We will not be in danger."

"I hope so," Jacen said.

"Lowbacca has told me you are hurt," Sekot said. "What has happened?"

"When I access the Force, I get headaches," Jacen explained. "The more I use it, the more it hurts, and twice I've passed out to wake up with nose bleeds."

"Speak to the Jedi Healers," Sekot suggested, gesturing to the exit. "I will accompany you."

Jacen and Sekot exited the ship into a wide open field surrounded by trees with several space craft around, including several old XJ-class X-wings. They walked down a path through the forest to a small village nearby made up of about fifty different huts. Jacen longed to reach out with the Force to sense the amazing life around him, to relive the memories he had of Zonoma, but he feared the consequences.

"Jacen!" A familiar voice shouted out. Jacen followed his ears and saw a red-headed man about twenty five years old race toward him with Lowie following at a walk. "It _is_ you!"

The young man ploughed into Jacen with a hug, and released him.

"Ben?" Jacen asked. "You're..."

"Young, I know," Ben grinned. "Sekot found this obscure nebula with a very rare form of radiation. It reacts to her presence in a way that regenerates the tissue of Force users at an accelerated rate, keeping us young. I was about fifty when we came here, and look at me now!"

"The Jedi have been hiding here?" Jacen asked. "All these years?"

"We've been rebuilding," Ben explained. "I have five kids and twenty grandchildren. The Jedi population numbers about two thousand now, and none of us are old. We're all at the prime of our lives or younger."

"Wow," Jacen said. "That's amazing. Is the effect permanent?"

"It is," Ben said. "You'll notice the change the longer you stay here. Old scars will heal, you'll feel younger..."

"Ben, I need a doctor," Jacen interrupted. "Something is wrong with me. I can't access the Force without splitting headaches."

Ben looked up at Lowie, who nodded in agreement.

"Cilghal is here," Ben said. "She was the last of dad's Jedi Masters. She nearly died of old age before we arrived here, but the radiation healed her. Because of the radiation we haven't had the need for healers, so she only has a couple students."

"I should see her right away," Jacen said. "Then I'd like to meet the family."

* * *

><p>After a battery of tests from blood work to Force probings, and even some Yuuzhan Vong derived tests, Jacen was released from Cilghal's laboratory with orders not to go far away. Unlike in the past when he felt less fragile, Jacen did not intend to disobey her order. While Cilghal and her best assistants examined the test results Ben took Jacen back to his hut to meet his wife. A cute girl from Gandeal named Mariss, Ben said she had risen to the rank of Jedi Knight only a few weeks before. Over time Ben's children, three men and twin girls, came to meet their long lost relative. About two hours after arriving at Ben's, a messenger came and requested that Jacen return to Cilghal's lab immediately.<p>

"We have discovered an irregularity in your neocortex," Cilghal explained after she had Jacen back in the lab. "We are still running some tests, but it appears you have severely damaged the specific area of the brain that human Jedi use when accessing the Force."

"Will it heal?" Jacen asked.

Cilghal regarded him carefully. After his five-year post-war sojourn, she had regarded him as too reckless, and he could tell by her glare that she still felt that way.

"We'll be lucky if it doesn't _spread_," Cilghal clarified and pointed at him with her flipper. "Absolutely no using the Force until we know more. That's an order."

* * *

><p>Few things scared Jacen more than losing the Force permanently, so he took Cilghal's warning seriously and returned to Ben's hut. Most of the family had disbursed back to their own huts for the evening, leaving Lowie and Ben, long separated Master and Apprentice, to catch up together. When Jacen arrived, Mariss walked Jacen to the dining table and rushed off to prepare some food for him.<p>

"What'd Cilghal say?" Ben asked.

"I busted the area that Jedi use to control the Force," Jacen explained wearily. "That's about all they know. She wants me not access the Force at all."

Ben laughed and Lowie chuffed. They stopped when they saw he was glaring at them.

"It is kinda funny," Ben said sheepishly. "You were always the most capable Jedi, always finding new ways to use the Force. Now you found a bizarre way to _not_ use the Force."

Mariss brought Jacen a glass of water and something to eat, an array of meat and vegetables he did not recognize, and sat at the table with the others. As hungry as he was, the knowledge of his condition stole his appetite, so he took a sip from the glass of water.

"How are you here, Jacen?" Ben asked. "You've been gone for a hundred years, and you haven't aged a day. Lowie told me you appeared out of nowhere on Coruscant and asked him to bring you here after, of all things, breaking out of the Sith Temple and getting chased by Sith Lords?"

"As I told Lowie, I was meditating on Hapes and I woke up a hundred years in the future," Jacen replied. "My great grandchildren were there and we saved each other from a bunch of Sith hunting Jedi. We escaped and ended up on Eriana's base in the Maw, where I left them behind and went to Nar Shadda to join the Sith. I became an Enforcer and worked my way up to a Sith Lord so I could access their database and find out a way to fix all this. In the escape I killed Lord Masakra and ran into Lowie."

"Why would you want to access their database?" Ben asked.

"We all thought Tahiri died on Korriban, but she escaped somehow. She eventually attacked Sekava, but he overpowered her and the Mandalorians hunting him. That's where he got the idea to fight together with other Sith. I have to get back in time to help her out to stop Sekava from killing her and forming the Sith team that eventually takes over the galaxy. The more I know about the origins of these new Sith, the better chance I have of stopping them when I return to my own time."

"Do you even know how to get back?" Mariss asked. "If you can't use the Force..."

"I know." Jacen breathed heavily, poking at a blue vegetable lazily with his fork. "I'm stuck here."


	14. Reluctant Hero

**Reluctant Hero**

Word of Jacen's arrival spread quickly across the population of Zonoma. Many Jedi travelled from the neighbouring villages to visit one of the legends of the past, and even Yuuzhan Vong that knew of his legacy sought him out. Unlike the Jedi, the Yuuzhan Vong did not have the Force connection that allowed the nebula radiation to act as a fountain of youth, so many of the Yuuzhan Vong were of a second generation from the ones Jacen had known. After several hours that morning of meeting people who wanted to meet the first celebrity to visit them in decades, Jacen escaped to talk to Cilghal about his condition.

The news from Cilghal in the morning was encouraging, but worrisome. She had determined that the damage was, in fact, repairing, but at such a slow rate that it would take months, or even years to fully heal over. She also could not determine whether the nebula was causing the regenerative effect, or if it was healing on its own. Cilghal promised to continue searching to see if there was a way she could accelerate the healing process, but it was likely that he would be in for a long recovery. She also did not want to take unnecessary risks with hasty attempts to repair it if it was progressing on its own.

After hearing the prognosis, Jacen decided he needed to be alone for a while. He packed some food and departed out of the village, heading toward the highest point he could find. About ten minutes into the walk, the image of Vergere appeared beside him. Together they hiked for about four hours without a word until Jacen reached the top of the mountain he had set out to conquer. He sat on a fallen tree and broke out his meal.

"Want some?" Jacen joked, offering Vergere-Sekot a drink of his water.

"I sacrificed my life for you, and all you offer me is water after hours of silence?"

"Vergere!" Jacen exclaimed, nearly spilling his drink. "I thought you were Sekot! Why didn't you say something?"

Vergere smiled and ruffled her crest feathers.

"Always ignoring what is right in front of his nose, young Solo," Vergere chided. "The others asked me to check on you."

"I can't use the Force, Vergere," Jacen said. "Somehow using it damaged my brain."

"Yes, I know," Vergere said. "Yoda suffered the same fate when he was young."

"He told me time travel was dangerous," Jacen recounted. "But he didn't say why. I thought he was referring to the implications of messing up the timeline."

"That is a great danger, Jacen Solo," Vergere admitted. "But your body is not designed to traverse the obstacles of time. Space is nothing, but time is harsh. But, lucky for you, Cilghal is correct in her diagnosis. You will heal, in time, if you do not use the Force. The effects of the injury may have gone unnoticed if you did not unleash the way you had. In a sense, you are fortunate that the injury occurred when it did, otherwise you may never have known it was there until it was too late."

"I have to get back to my time," Jacen said. "I have to stop all this."

"Stop what?" Vergere asked, gesturing down at the village they had hiked away from. "The Jedi are stronger now than they have been in three hundred years. There are _thousands_ of Jedi. If you want a bright future for the Jedi, it is _here_."

"There are also thousands _more_ Sith firmly entrenched in the governments across the galaxy, oppressing trillions of innocent lives," Jacen countered. "Every day countless people struggle for a life that could be crushed with the blink of an eye if a Sith Lord throws a temper tantrum. The galaxy cannot survive like that. This is wrong on a scale far beyond what even the Yuuzhan Vong did."

"And you believe you can fix it?" Vergere demanded. "Who are _you_? You are a Jedi without the Force. A song without a chorus. A sword without a blade. Right now, you are less than nothing."

"I have a truth," Jacen said resolutely. "A truth to believe in. A truth worth pursuing. If I can return to my time, I _will_ make a difference."

"Every time you travel through time, damage is done to your body," Vergere warned. "If I send you back now, there is no guarantee you will even survive, and you definitely will never touch the Force again. If you wait, and heal, you may survive the transition and have the opportunity to heal once again to touch the Force. Every time you travel through time the injury will get worse. If you travel too many times, even after waiting to heal, you will kill yourself."

"How long?" Jacen asked. "How long for the injury to heal."

"Three months if you remain here," Vergere said, gesturing upward. "If Sekot remains in this nebula. If you leave, it will take over a year."

"So if I stay here for three months..."

"You may come to like it here," Vergere said pleasantly, looking around at the beautiful flora surrounding them. "You have a family, friends. Many Jedi to teach your ways. You could restore the Jedi to power in the galaxy after you heal to a level that your uncle could only dream about. _This_ time may become more attractive to you, more worthwhile to you than your own time."

Jacen stared back at the village for several quiet minutes and Vergere waited patiently for him to make a decision. He thought about Tasha, the great-grandaughter who reminded him so much of a blend between him and his sister. He thought of Callie, the girl full of vibrant energy who was just starting her life.

He considered Encari. Ben. Lowie. Lando. Eriana. They had sacrificed so much to create a better future, and he held that future in his decision.

_Could I really make that much of a difference by going back?_

Tenel Ka came to his thoughts. His unborn child. His friends, family, and his duty to the galaxy as a Jedi. One way or another he knew he could make a difference to whichever timeline he was in. He convinced himself that the knowledge he had gained would help him fix the past, but, beyond that, he knew he had a responsibility to Tenel Ka as well. She did not deserve to live the life she had in this timeline, and he decided he would sacrifice ever touching the Force again to prevent that from happening to her. He made a promise to her even before he married her, and she was the one person he would never break a promise to.

He finally shook his head and looked to the ground, unable to meet Vergere's eye.

"Both decisions are the path of a Jedi," Vergere said. "But between two old friends, you chose well. When you are healed, return here. Yoda and the others will assist me to make the transition as easy as possible for you."

Vergere faded away and Jacen was once again alone. Not exactly feeling confident in his decision, Jacen lay back on the log to stare into the sky. Wisps of light streaked across the sky, followed by explosions in space. It appeared that, true to her word, Sekot did know how to deal with the Sith attackers.

He finished off his meal while watching the light show and set out to return to the Jedi village when it was over. He had a long wait ahead.

* * *

><p>Living among the Jedi, though family, proved difficult for Jacen. After a week living with Ben, Jacen found it hard to live without the Force while he could catch whispers of people using it at the edges of his perception. Cilghal and Jacen had determined that the healing rate was greatest if he did nothing to actively touch the Force, instead letting the Force get back in touch with him on its own. This left him vulnerable to reflexive responses, especially when surrounded by Jedi constantly using the Force throughout their day in training or during day-to-day tasks. Several times during the first week he got into several arguments with Cilghal for 'ripping the scab' off his injury and making it worse.<p>

To make things easier on both himself and the Jedi, most of whom still regarded him with a level of awe and inspiration, Jacen requested Sekot to ask the Magistrar if he could live among the Ferroans. A family of Ferroan farmers that had recently lost a son to illness gladly took Jacen into their house and he worked hard to assist them in planting crops, tilling the fields, and tending the animals. He found the long days of hard work distracted him sufficiently to keep his mind off his repairing neocortex, and still gave him the exercise he needed to keep in shape. As the weeks passed by, Jacen noticed he felt younger and that the old scars around his wrists, ankles, and on his chest from his captivity among the Yuuzhan Vong slowly faded away.

Lowbacca had left two weeks after arriving with Jacen, only to return three weeks after that with the _Rising Star _and Encari. Word made it to Jacen of his descendants' arrival, but he did not bother returning to the Jedi village until his scheduled two week check-up with Cilghal since it was a two day journey on foot.

As with previous times in his life of great stress, Jacen had given up on shaving or cutting his hair, letting it grow out and make him look older. With every passing day he missed his family more, wishing every night he went to bed that he had Tenel Ka beside him. Every time he unconsciously reached out for his sister in their twin bond, she was not there. When he would think of his parents, his aunt and uncle, and the many others who suffered the same fate of Lando, a hole opened in his heart threatening to suck his entire life into it. These subtle reminders kept him grounded in reality, remembering the importance of returning to his home time and not growing too attached to this twisted future.

After his two day hike, Jacen arrived at the Jedi village near nightfall in Ferroan farmer clothing and carrying a few belongings in a backpack for his journey, hardly looking like the legend of the Jedi he was said to be. He proceeded directly to Cilghal's lab for the check-up, not wanting to stay very long and impose on the Jedi village. Smoke was at the lab being tended for a cut on her arm when Jacen arrived, but she hardly recognized him at first.

"Jacen?" She asked. "What happened to you?"

Jacen explained the situation, from his infiltration and escape from the Sith to running into Lowbacca and ending up on Zonoma, and his unique injury. Cilghal performed the necessary tests on him, ensuring the injury was healing, and released him with orders to keep doing whatever it was he was doing – or more specifically, keep _not_ doing what he was not doing. Despite the setbacks, his injury was healing well and another two months ought to do it.

Jacen wanted to return to the Ferroan farm immediately, but Smoke refused to let him leave, instead almost dragging him back to Ben's hut to see the rest of the family and Encari.

On the way to Ben's, Smoke indicated two locations where several posts were sticking out of there ground. She explained that Shadow and Nova were building a hut to live in, and that she and Encari were also building one. Until the huts were complete, they were staying with members of the Skywalker family, their distant cousins. Encari, however, could not stay long as she had to return to the Black Vornskrs to oversee their operations, but had offered to help build the hut with Smoke.

They walked silently to Ben's place and listened to the laughter and voices that grew louder as they approached. Several metres away, Jacen stopped and stared through a window at Ben tossing Callie in the air while she screamed and giggled with excitement.

"Jacen?"

"I don't belong here," Jacen said to his great-granddaughter. "I can't use the Force. This galaxy is a twisted perversion of the one I came from. I need to get back there. I need to save the timeline."

"We many never exist if you do that," Smoke said, looking sadly at him with Jaina's eyes. "Look at your family here. We are all together, and we are happy. Is your timeline more important than our lives?"

Knowing he could never answer that question, Jacen steeled his heart and finally proceeded to enter the hut. Everyone greeted him and was excited to see him back. A tense moment with Shadow ended in an apology about doubting Jacen and a hug shared between the two men. The family spent time together with Encari, HK-47 and several of Ben's descendants, enjoying each other's company and listening to Jacen's stories about their ancestors. Like Jacen had when he was young, even Ben had a hard time imagining his father as a reckless teenager shooting womprats in an old T-16 in Beggar's Canyon on Tattoine. He told stories about the times he spent growing up on Yavin 4, exploring the lower levels of Coruscant, and the missions he took part on during the Yuuzhan Vong war. Before Jacen could talk about his post-war sojourn to discover the Force, Lowbacca appeared at the door requesting Encari's immediate return to the Black Vornskrs. New intelligence showed that a massive Sith fleet was on the move, and nobody knew where they were going.

* * *

><p>The next morning Jacen woke early with the intent to hike back to the Ferroan farm. When he left the hut he found Nova outside walking slowly and humming to Callie, who slept peacefully against her chest. Without wanting to disturb her, he set off in the other direction, but she called him over.<p>

"Leaving already?" She asked.

"The farmers need my help," Jacen said. "If I take too long they'll start worrying about me."

"Stay, Jacen," Nova said. "Everyone here wants you to. You're the only one who can't see that."

"I can see it, Miryah, but I can't stay."

"Because you don't want to get too attached to us?"

"No, because I can't use the Force."

"I can't either," Nova said. "But I married a Jedi and I came to this planet of Jedi with him. Do you think it is easy for me to watch as everyone around me moves things around with their minds or always knows what everyone else is thinking?"

"Imagine being able to do that all your life and learning how to do it so easily it is like breathing or sleeping or seeing to you," Jacen elaborated. "And then it is taken away. Worse, it is there, but you can't use it only by stopping yourself from using it. How do you use one lung, but not the other? Or see out of one eye with both open? I need to heal, and being around the Jedi makes it harder to resist using the Force unconsciously."

HK-47 approached the two from inside the hut and silently stood beside Jacen.

"I have to go," Jacen finally said. "I'll be back to visit during my checkups, but I can't stay here."

"May the Force be with you, Jacen," Nova said sadly.

As Jacen started his long hike back to the Ferroan farm he could feel Nova's eyes watching him all the way to the edge of the village. When he reached the edge, he turned to HK-47, who had followed him.

"HK, stay with my family," Jacen ordered, glancing back at Nova and Callie.

"Objection: I do not intend to follow you, Master," HK-47 countered. "I merely have a gift for you."

Jacen took a datacard from the droid's extended hand.

"What is it?"

"Pointless description: It is a datacard, master."

"What's on it?"

"Answer: Data. I really do not understand why you are being so comical, master. Even infantile meatbags know that data is contained on a datacard."

"What _specific_ data is on the card?" Jacen demanded impatiently.

"Resigned answer: It is a recording of the events of last night," HK-47 finally explained. "I made it for when you return to your own time so you may remember this family. I have even made an optional commentary so you remember the night even better."

"Thank you, HK," Jacen said. He put the datacard in a safe pocket. "I didn't know you were capable of such sentimentality."

"Offended reply: Certainly not, master! No need to offend my programming! I merely thought you would like a reminder that your offspring produced as many meatbags as they did with the hopes that you would return to correct your mistake! The galaxy was already infested with too many meatbags long before you left."

"Thanks, HK," Jacen said. "Keep an eye on everyone for me while I'm gone."

"Yes, master."


	15. All good things

AN: My apologies for the delay in posting. There are two reasons why I didn't post - about 50% of the work in both classes I'm taking was due in the last two weeks, and...you'll find out below.

* * *

><p><strong>All good things...<strong>

Jacen returned every two weeks for his check-ups and stayed only one night before returning to the farm. He usually stayed at Smoke's cabin, helping for a short time in building or finishing it with her and the few others who decided to help. Part of him felt protective of her against some of the advances from a couple young men, but he resisted the urge to intercede on her behalf. Instead, he devoted himself to the task at hand, whether it be building the hut or responding to one of Encari's requests that came through the new holonet transceiver for advice about certain operations regarding the Sith.

Now that the Black Vornskrs were in contact with the Jedi on Zonoma, many of Encari's Jedi visited to meet and train with the members of Ben's Jedi Order, and information was shared between parties. It was not long before Encari asked for Ben to contribute Jedi to the fight, a request that gathered enough tension for Ben and Encari for her to travel back to Zonoma to meet in person with Ben to discuss their respective futures. On the fifth day of their stalemated meeting, Jacen showed up for his fourth check-up. He could feel his connection to the Force improving and could often passively pick up the emotions of others by letting the Force drift them to him.

"Something big going on?" Jacen asked Cilghal as she ran the brain scan.

"No talking," Cilghal responded. "You shouldn't be using the Force. You'll aggravate the injury."

"I can sense the tension without reaching out," Jacen explained.

"Quiet!" Cilghal ordered. "If you must know, Encari has asked Ben for Jedi to join the fight against the Sith. Unfortunately for her, nobody wants to leave Zonoma. And don't you dare say another word until I'm done."

Several machines beeped as they always had when examining Jacen's brain and Cilghal finally started to remove the equipment from around her patient.

"What does the Council think?"

"The Council does not exist any longer," Cilghal explained. "We no longer have a governing body. Ben and a few others make decisions when they are necessary, but we have found utopia here. Sekot provides everything we need, and the nebula keeps us young and healthy. What sensible person would want to leave?"

Jacen stood up and looked at the Mon Calamari. His fledgling connection to the Force gave him enough insight to sense she did not want to leave as much as anyone.

"I would expect that from someone born here, but not from you," Jacen told her. "You were one of the Council. The last of the Council. You know better than anyone else here who the Jedi are."

He left without even waiting for the results of his test. Luke once gave him a rude awakening and he figured it was time to repay the family.

* * *

><p>Lowbacca stood guard outside the old <em>Millennium Falcon<em>, renamed the _Syrin Legacy_ for discretion, talking with his sister and their mates when Jacen arrived.

"Open up, Lowie," Jacen ordered. "I need to talk to Ben."

[He is meeting with Encari,] Lowie said. [I'm not to let anyone in.]

"Ben needs his head rearranged," Jacen said. "Let me in."

Lowie chuffed with laughter. [In that case...]

Lowie punched the release code into the _Falcon_'s access panel and the ramp lowered. Jacen walked aboard and toward the voices arguing in the passenger lounge. As he turned the corner, the voices stopped and both occupants turned to face Jacen. Jacen stared at Ben, so alike his father, yet so different, and shook his head.

"Have you hashed out a plan to remove the Sith from power?" Jacen finally asked.

"My Jedi do not want to join the war," Ben explained. "We are happy here."

"So let's open up Zonoma's doors to the whole galaxy for anyone who wants to be free of the Sith, right?" Jacen asked. "That makes sense. Anyone looking for freedom can enjoy it alongside the Jedi, and the Sith will leave us alone while we industrialize the hell out of this sanctuary and kill our protector. Brilliant plan, Benny. Why didn't I think of it?"

"Because it's idiotic?" Encari suggested.

"You don't know what the Jedi went through," Ben exclaimed, clearly offended that Jacen was taking Encari's side. "Our temple was destroyed from orbit; our younglings slaughtered. We barely escaped with our lives! A lot of us weren't that lucky!"

"Why, so you can lounge around all day? Did your parents sacrifice their lives so you could lead the Jedi to a new home where they could ignore the needs of the galaxy? You've been sheltered for a hundred years. You've had a hundred years to regrow the Jedi and all you've done is make babies. It is time for you to start giving back."

"We are not ready for battle," Ben argued. "I'll be the first to admit it: We're soft. We have Jedi who haven't even built lightsabers. There is no way we could survive against the trained Sith warriors."

"Time to train up, Ben," Jacen said. "Get your Jedi up to scratch, or I will."

"What will you do?" Ben asked. "Do you think the Jedi would follow a cripple?"

"A cripple?" Encari asked. "Even with his disability he's still ten times the Jedi than all of yours combined."

"It doesn't matter what you want, Ben," Jacen said. "It doesn't matter what your Jedi want. You can't hide here much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to Sekot. She's fine providing the Jedi a shelter, but not a place to cower. Everyone has a duty to the galaxy. Hers is to protect the weak; the Yuuzhan Vong and the Jedi who can't take care of themselves. The Jedi's duty is to serve freedom and justice and it's time to step up and start playing ball. If you can't abide by that rule you're welcome to leave. All of you."

"You're lying. You can't make that decision," Ben warned coldly. "Only the Magistrar can speak to Sekot on such things."

"That would be a mistake to assume," The persona of Sekot as an image of Jacen appeared beside the real Jacen. "I allowed the Jedi to live here under my protection as a tribute to my friendship with Jacen."

"That's really creepy, Sekot," Jacen said, staring at his own image.

The image glared at him and transformed into Luke Skywalker before continuing. "My concerns are much greater than those any human could ever understand, but I remember when Jacen and I sought a solution to the Yuuzhan Vong war. His council is as important to me as the Magistrar's, and we are in agreement: The Jedi must serve the whole galaxy, not just themselves."

* * *

><p>A month later when Jacen returned for his last check-up with Cilghal the entire Jedi population felt transformed. Shadow and Smoke were recruited as trainers to teach the other Jedi advanced lightsaber skills under the direction of Encari and several of her Black Vornskr Jedi, including Lowbacca. Some picked up the skills relatively easily while others struggled, but the threat from Sekot had sprung the Jedi into action. For too long they had forgotten their role in the galaxy, and Encari's training regimen brought that harsh reality home.<p>

Jacen arrived at Smoke's house and placed his few possessions on a wooden bench just inside the door. Among a few other things, the cleaned Sith uniform and lightsaber were still in the bag he had acquired on Coruscant, but his attention was elsewhere. He heard Smoke and another woman speaking in the kitchen area, so he followed the voice. Clean shaven, he wore his lightsabers and lightfoil on his belt proudly as he entered the kitchen to a sight he never expected to see. Smoke looked up at Jacen, but she did not speak first.

"Well, look who the Wookiee dragged in," the other attractive young woman said, standing to face Jacen. "You've been here all this time and you didn't even think to contact me?"

"I..." Whatever Jacen wanted to say was cut off with a hug that could wind a Wookiee. "I missed you too, Danni."

"I hope you don't mind, but I brought a gift." Danni Quee released him and handed him a bundle from the table. The beige and dark green material was folded in a way to display the chest, which was clearly a Jedi robe design. The material seemed to squeeze his hands, and he reached out with his Vongsense to confirm his suspicions.

"A Yuuzhan Vong Jedi robe!" Jacen exclaimed. "I've wanted one of these for years!"

"You mentioned how much you liked it on Mon Calamari," Danni said, almost blushing. "I had a shaper friend of mine make it when I heard you returned. It took him a few tries to get it right, otherwise I would've been here sooner."

"That's...thank you, Danni," Jacen said and hugged her again. "I can't believe you remembered what I said...a hundred and twenty years ago on a boat ride half a galaxy away!"

"Awk-ward..." Smoke said and drained the last of her tea. "I'll go find Shadow and let you two catch up. Nice to meet you, Danni."

"You too, and thank you," Danni replied as Smoke slipped through the door behind Jacen, allowing him to put the robes back on the table, sit down and take another look at Danni.

"You look younger than I remember," Jacen said, realizing how much he missed the comforting wisdom he always found in her green eyes. "The years have been kind to you."

"Sekot has," Danni said fondly. "She takes care of us better than the Jedi give her credit. Those of us who remembered what it was like before we found this sanctuary, truly remembered and reminded ourselves, that is, know how lucky we are. Ben and the others have done their best to forget and leave the past in the past. Maybe he wasn't old enough to appreciate what happened, but a few others were. They've all died – they weren't Jedi, the others who remembered with me. The other Jedi were too distracted by the wonders of Sekot to care about outsiders anymore."

"Your husband was among them," Jacen said. She looked at him with surprise, but he already knew he had correctly read the underlying pain he could sense radiating from in her.

"Ten years ago," Danni said grimly with a look of aged sorrow that no face so young should ever bear. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay young when the people you love grow old around you? If it was safe to go anywhere else, I would've left just to grow old with him. I had to spend years watching him get older and frailer while I got younger and stronger. He never would admit it, but I'm sure it bothered him as much as it bothered me."

"Oddly enough, I do have some idea of what you went through," Jacen said. "It's probably about as hard as jumping a hundred years into the future and seeing old friends and your family several generations later."

"You mean the rumours are true?" Danni asked, both intrigued and surprised. "You actually traversed through time."

"Unless this is one big horrible dream, yeah, I did." Danni leaned forward and Jacen caught a glint of excitement in her eye that he recognized from when the two of them realized that Zonoma Sekot may be hiding as a moon back in the Chiss library on Csilla. "No, absolutely not."

"Jacen..."

"No, I will not teach anyone, even if for scientific purposes. It's too unstable and dangerous. I've already jumped twice without being able to control it and I've suffered some serious damage to my brain."

Danni leaned back in her chair and shook her head.

"Good. I read the report," she said in a serious tone that betrayed the glint of excitement Jacen has glimpsed a moment before. "I think Cilghal underestimated the level of damage. Another trip through time could kill you. I'm not talking about a fifty-fifty risk here. My estimate is closer to an eighty-five percent probability. Going back could be, no, _is_ suicidal."

"You said yourself that this time is too painful to live in," Jacen said. "I could change all that. I can go back and, if nothing else, send a message to let the Jedi know what happens and how to change things for the better. Even if I don't survive, one datacard with enough information could stop Sekava before he builds the Sith Empire."

"And what if another tyrant takes his place?" Danni demanded. "And another after him? You're talking about a one-shot chance to take out one enemy that could be better than the alternative. For all you know, going back will make things worse! You're here for a reason, Jacen. All we have is the here-and-now. You're alive and healthy _here_. You have a future, _here_, with people who love you and need you. You're the leader the Jedi have needed for over fifty years, the only person who can bring the Vornskrs and Jedi together to face this Sith threat once and for all."

The pain and passion in Danni's green eyes surprised Jacen, even if her words were expected. He truly had no idea what to say, so he took Danni's small hands into his and squeezed them gently. He stared at her hands, unable to look her in the eye.

"I want to stay," Jacen admitted, perhaps for the first time even to himself.

"Then stay," Danni pleaded. He finally looked into her eyes expecting to see anger, but instead he saw disappointment. No, not disappointment. Loss.

He stood up and turned away from her to lean against the window frame, staring outside to collect his thoughts, if only so he did not have to see the sad look of escaping hope on her face.

"I know I can make a difference here, but I also know I can make a bigger difference _there_, too."

He looked back at Danni, but she was no longer in the chair. Somehow he did not notice that she joined him at the window and was reaching up to his neck to pull him into a kiss.

As quickly as it began, the kiss was over and Jacen found himself staring into her bright green eyes in complete shock.

"Maybe what I'm trying to say is," Danni admitted somewhat abashedly. "I want you to stay...with me."

Without the words to express himself, Jacen pulled Danni into a hug and they stayed in each other's embrace for a few silent minutes. Their emotions flowed freely through the Force to fill in where words could not: her losses and longing for companionship with a friend she thought she had lost and feared to lose again; his loss of Tenel Ka and his own past, and his resolve to set things right.

"I want to stay," Jacen finally broke the silence. "But my home is there. My family, friends. Even you."

"I understand," she said and released him from the hug. She wiped a tear from her eye and finally smiled up at him. "It's where you belong."

* * *

><p>Cilghal's test was quick and showed the injury had been fully healed, but she suggested he take it easy for another two weeks to be safe. Since he was technically healed, Jacen felt there was no reason to not use the Force, so he joined in on training the other Jedi under Encari's supervision. Together they sharpened each others skills at Vaapad and began to teach Ben and a select few others the art of Form VII. Jacen also took the time to teach Ben, Danni, Encari, and Smoke some of his more unorthodox and powerful techniques. After the two weeks of training the Jedi passed, Jacen returned for one final check-up and was given a clean bill of health. Naturally, everyone except Danni had expected him to stay and was dismayed by his insistence that he had to return to his own time.<p>

* * *

><p>On the day he decided to return to his own time, he returned to the <em>Solo Quest<em> long enough to make some recordings with HK-47 and exited the ship to see the entire Solo-Skywalker clan and his old friends waiting for him.

Smoke approached Jacen first, her facial features so similar to Jaina's that he almost felt like he was already at home for a moment.

"We'll miss you, Jacen," Smoke said. "You've brought us together, and we can never forget that."

"You would have found your way without me, Tasha," Jacen told her. "Trust the Force, always."

Jacen hugged her and turned to Shadow.

"Here," Jacen said, handing him one of the datacards he had just made a recording on. "The master control codes for HK-47 and the ship. They're in good hands now."

Jacen exchanged hugs and words of farewell with everyone in the Solo-Skywalker family, and they formed an honour guard down the length of the spaceport.

[Give me a shout when you get home,] Lowie barked, clasping forearms with Jacen and pulling him into a Wookiee hug.

"I will, my friend."

Encari and Ben finally approached him.

"Tell my parents I love them," Ben said, hugging his cousin. "I never got the chance to say goodbye."

Jacen nodded and hugged Encari. He handed her the bag with his Sith robes and lightsaber in it.

"This might help one day." He said, and they shook hands one last time. He attempted to pull the Corusca ring off his finger to give it to her, but she stopped him.

"She wanted you to have it," Encari said. "Keep it as a reminder of us. Who knows? It might prove useful one day."

Ben and Encari stepped away to give Danni the chance to step forward. They hugged in silence for a minute.

"Jacen?" Danni finally asked.

"Yes?"

"When you go back, will you miss us?"

Jacen released her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Of course." Jacen let go and smiled. "You'll always be a part of me. All of you."

Without looking back, Jacen set off toward the designated spot he had arranged with Vergere, and four long hours later he arrived. He sat on the log and waited until Sekot appeared in Vergere's form.

"Thanks for everything, Sekot," Jacen said.

"I will be leaving shortly," Sekot said. "I am doing the Jedi no favours by staying in this nebula. I stayed, only for your sake. I thought by protecting the Jedi, I would protect your memory."

"I will forever be in your debt, my friend," Jacen said.

"Our friendship is beyond debt," Sekot smiled and faded away.

From the trees around him, Jedi of old appeared and walked toward him. All the Jedi who had profoundly trained him, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Vergere, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, and Luke Skywalker formed a circle around him.

"We will only have one chance at this," Vergere explained. "With luck, you will survive without too great of injury."

"I understand."

Jacen removed a datacube and several datacards from his pockets and held them firmly in his hands.

"I am ready."

The Jedi Masters each placed a hand on him and on each other's shoulder, and Yoda floated to face Jacen at eye level. Yoda reached out and tapped Jacen's forehead with one claw, and the world went black.

* * *

><p>Tenel Ka awoke in the middle of the night from the baby's kicking and realized something was wrong. Jacen was not lying next to her and his presence was not...right. She turned to look at his usual meditation spot, and he was laying spread eagle, face down on the ground.<p>

"Jacen!" She shouted, scrambling to get the sheets off her and cross the room. She checked for a pulse, which was present but weak. "Jacen, wake up!"

She rolled him over and discovered a pile of blood beneath his head, pooling from his nose. She also realized the robes he was wearing were not the same as any she knew he had, his hair was lighter than she remembered, the old scar beneath his eye was gone, and there was a brilliant ring she did not recognize on his finger. She checked him over for other injuries and noticed his right hand was barely holding a holocube. She extracted the holocube and it immediately lit up at her touch. A hand-sized image of him appeared over the holocube.

"Tenel Ka, if this works, you should find me in our bedroom," The holographic Jacen said. "Listen very carefully: If I am still alive, do not worry about me just yet. In my other hand are three datacards. Read it over and get the appropriate information to Uncle Luke as soon as possible. The fate of the galaxy is in your hand. If I didn't make it…remember, I will always love you."

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed the tale of Jacen's journey through time. I rather enjoyed writing it. The other reason I took so long to update was that I wanted to make sure it flowed properly into the sequel...which will probably take me about eight months to a year to finish with all my commitments in the way. Please go ahead and subscribe to me as an author when you give this story a glowing review so you can be informed when I post again :D<p>

May the Force be with you!

JC

p.s. Free preview for the next story to whoever finds the two Star Trek references in this story. Admittedly, one was completely unintentional and I didn't even notice it until I read it after posting it...PM me when you found them.


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